CTNC
Doesn't know how to attack
Don't remind me.
As much as I love making Pokemon use Struggle, I rage quit before being forced to use it. ****ing Weavile and Whirlpool + Taunt Gyarados in Restricted Sparring...
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Pokemon Scarlet & Violet - 18th Nov 2022! **OFFICIAL INFO ONLY**
- Thread starter DHR-107
- Start date
As much as I love making Pokemon use Struggle, I rage quit before being forced to use it. ****ing Weavile and Whirlpool + Taunt Gyarados in Restricted Sparring...
Changing from a bad type to a good type (i.e. changing any Ice-type with recovery into a Steel-type with recovery) may provide a greater boost in viability to that individual Pokemon, but at the day, a dedicated defensive Terastylizer is just a "regular" Pokemon. So even if Steel Avalugg goes from unranked to an OU-level Pokemon, you could just pick 6 Pokemon which are OU-level at baseline and retain the ability to pressure your opponent with Super STAB when an opportunity arises.
The fact that dedicated Terastylizers can be treated as "baseline" Pokemon also means that they can be tiered as such. If Steel Avalugg is too strong in NU or RU or UU, it'll get banned to a tier where it isn't too strong, at which point it becomes an option with a significant opportunity cost (seriously, Steel Avalugg isn't that much better than Skarmory). This is why dedicated Terastylizers will probably mainly only be seen on stallier teams, which are less likely to use it offensively. And given that they'll now have to face against breakers which can surprise you with a sudden boost, stall could be even less viable than in Gen 8 (unless Tera is banned or we get a new defensive Pokemon on par with Mega Sableye and Toxapex).
Scizor can still beat a Clefable which changes to Fire or Steel unless Clefable carries a Fire-type move (especially with Roost variants of Scizor). Flamethrower is not that common and is usually telegraphed by Clefable holding a Life Orb. Unless the special Tera move can substitute for Moonblast when Clef hasn't transformed and then convert to a Fire-type move, it'll likely still be hard to fit. And even if it does have a Fire-type move, it has to be kept at a high amount of health to survive coverage moves if the Scizor user predicts the Tera.
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Scizor Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable (Tera to non-Fairy): 265-312 (67.2 - 79.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Technician Scizor Sand Tomb vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable (Tera Fire or Steel): 283-335 (71.8 - 85%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Technician Scizor Sand Tomb vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable (Tera Fire or Steel): 283-335 (71.8 - 85%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
also, if tera is one per team (very likely, as every generational gimic (minus gems? does that even count?) is limited to one per team) you are pretty much telegraphing on preview that you would like to tera avalugg. this pretty much force you to either go along with tera-ing avalugg and remove a lot of offensive and surprise utility of tera (like dynamax, each and every one of your mons can tera at moment's notice, forcing your opponent to play around it until you actually use it) or leave yourself with an ice-type avalugg.
this is assuming you dont actually have to carry the stupid crowns as your item. carrying multiple crowns (like z-crystals) would be a waste.
this is assuming you dont actually have to carry the stupid crowns as your item. carrying multiple crowns (like z-crystals) would be a waste.
I mean, yeah kinda, but counter and mirror coat can still be used during taunt lol
Another Ice mon that could be potentially funny (...in lower tiers)
Dude got that 80/135 Special bulk, good Speed at 105, and a weirdly stacked movepool with Recover, Spin and Knock Off all being present. It is by no means an OU mon but I'm very interested to see what people can come up with for it in whatever tier it ends up in
Dude got that 80/135 Special bulk, good Speed at 105, and a weirdly stacked movepool with Recover, Spin and Knock Off all being present. It is by no means an OU mon but I'm very interested to see what people can come up with for it in whatever tier it ends up in
Dusk Mage Necrozma
formerly XenonHero126
Echoing Wild Noob and Shadowpea’s sentiments that Tera Avalugg is not amazing. It’s probably still decent and can get around its issue of telegraphing its Tera through its sheer bulk but y’all overhyping it…
Wait wait wait this thing gets Rapid Spin and Recover?! Egad this is indeed OU material.
Wait wait wait this thing gets Rapid Spin and Recover?! Egad this is indeed OU material.
CTNC
Doesn't know how to attack
It's so easy to think "lol jank will always be jank!" because defensive Ice types suck, but is Avalugg is rated C- on the OU Viability thread even with the most infamously bad defensive typing. Even if it's only because of the smaller Dex before DLC, I can see Avalugg being a good Terastal user.
No one mentioned how Hisuian Avalugg would do yet, but why not? It'd gain so much more from changing its typing! Then again, that's only because its default typing and Special Defense are worse. It's bad enough that moving a Shiny Burgmite from PL:A to Shield before evolving it was a no brainer. I just said not to fall into the jank will always be jank mindset, but go ahead and fall into it for the worse version of Avalugg unless you really need STAB Rock or the extra Attack.
No one mentioned how Hisuian Avalugg would do yet, but why not? It'd gain so much more from changing its typing! Then again, that's only because its default typing and Special Defense are worse. It's bad enough that moving a Shiny Burgmite from PL:A to Shield before evolving it was a no brainer. I just said not to fall into the jank will always be jank mindset, but go ahead and fall into it for the worse version of Avalugg unless you really need STAB Rock or the extra Attack.
Worth mentioning that snowplow lugg has Ice Shard (as of PLA), which definitely makes it a lot more, uh, tolerable offensively. I can't imagine it would be any better than base ava as a tera user, though. That special defense loss probably isn't worth the extra attack and speed when you're losing your only upsides in the process (priority and dual stab)
Here's a question I have with regards to the Tera stuff that keeps getting posted here: Why is Steel generally posted as the go to choice for swapping off of Ice? Does the plethora of resistances make up for the shared common Fighting & Fire weaknesses?
In the case of a Defensive mon like Avalugg, yes.
CTNC
Doesn't know how to attack
I think the reason everyone says Steel because why would Steel not be the first Defensive type thought of?
Just a warning, (a warning I'll ignore because Steel is awesome :P) Steel may be worse than it sounds at first because people are going to be using Magnezone more than usual because of hype about Defensive Steel Teras.
Pure Steel actually isn't that great of type for blanket physical walls due to its weaknesses to Fighting and Ground, 2 very common coverage types on physical attackers. Fairy, Water, potentially Flying are all probably better for stall purposes. Our closest parallel to metalugg, Mega Aggron, ran heavy SpD investment, which is something our dear Avalugg could never pull off. See also: Melmetal EV spreads
it becomes worst when magnezone can be a Fire type with the possible new move becoming it's tera type. If this is the case, Magnet Pull will probably be banned.
To add off to what has already been said, immunity to Toxic and sandstorm, + resisting stealth rock are also extremely desirable traits on a defensive mon.
That said, I also think Steel is a bit overhyped. I expect a lot of poison to be used personally, removing tspikes on switch-in, still being immune to toxic, and while it doesn't have as many resistances it still only has two weaknesses, one of which is very common(ground) and the other which is usually very telegraphed (not many mons use psychic as coverage, its usually stab). Both of those types are prone to immunities switching in (flying and dark). The very few poison mons with useable bulk and access to recovery (aka basically toxapex, amogus, glowking/glowbro, crobat) all saw decent usage one way or another in the past and I don't see why new defensive mons couldnt use that typing. None of them were pure poison though so maybe its just garbage as a monotype idk.
CTNC
Doesn't know how to attack
This doesn't have to do with anything that's confirmed, but I had a dream that the Tera Type Attack everyone gets was Hidden Power coming back.
If Steel types let Tera Fighting Magnezone sweep with Iron Defense + Body Press too easily, then I could see Magnet Pull getting banned.
I'm a bit doubtful about Steel Teras being popular getting Magnet Pull banned. If anything, Magnet Pull being a problem would probably be a sign that Steel Teras are too good. Fear of Magnet Pull would also make Defensive Teras even more interesting because they won't almost always pick Steel.
If Steel types let Tera Fighting Magnezone sweep with Iron Defense + Body Press too easily, then I could see Magnet Pull getting banned.
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Dusk Mage Necrozma
formerly XenonHero126
Worth noting that you can only activate Tera after switch-in. So Avalugg still is SR-weak, Poison Tera mons don’t clear TSpikes unless you switch out and in. On the flipside this can be beneficial to something like DNite which can keep its Spikes immunity before Tera-ing.
CTNC
Doesn't know how to attack
That reminds me, so many people are going to be confused about why Teralizing into a Poison type won't cure their poison. On the bright side, at least they get rid of Toxic Spikes the second time switching in.
Dusk Mage Necrozma
formerly XenonHero126
Changing the system so that changing into a type that has an immunity to your current status seems like something plausible for GF to do, not just for Tera but for other things like Conversion
CTNC
Doesn't know how to attack
True that they could do it, but the fact that its worked that way for 8 Generations and that the Ability Corrosion exists makes me think that won't happen. This may be an edge case, but it'd cause problems with if a Pokemon that was poisoned by Salazzle was healed by changing into a Steel or Poison type.
Dusk Mage Necrozma
formerly XenonHero126
Yeah I’m not expecting it, but the topic reminded me that that’s a thing I could see them changing
Don't forget that Steel types are the reason why Ground, Fire, and Fighting moves are common.
So, let's explore Paldea's map!
(1.) Adventure Start:
We'll start where all Pokemon Adventures start, at our house at the very bottom of the map! Right across from our home is the presumed Professor's House where we get our Starter. BTW, the trailer shows there's two NPCs along the path between the two houses, one of them being the "Science is amazing" guy. We also meet Nemona at this time and go down the stairs behind the house to the beach where there's a (blue) battlefield where we likely have our first Rival Battle. However, if we look back at the new trailer, we learn something else about this beach: this seems to be where we first encounter Koraidon/Moraidon. I doubt this will happen right after the Rival Battle with Nemona, my guess is that we'll first go to the Academy, attend some classes, be sent on the Treasure Hunt, and then we'll for some reason be asked to return to the Professor's House where we'll be lured down to the beach by Koraidon/Moraidon for them to partner-up with us. Otherwise there's nothing else left to do on this beach (at least without the ability to swim, and I suspect that Koraidon/Moraidon won't have their swimming (or flying) forms when you first partner-up.
Anyway, back to the path and we go up a long winding path which passes, among other things, a (red) lighthouse. In the new trailer, when mentioning the 3 stories part of the Treasure Hunt, this lighthouse was shown, so it's likely this lighthouse and the others are just here for show. But likely can't do anything the first time passing by (maybe there will be a cutscene noting it, we'll see). Also, unless it's notable, I'll be skipping over any environment details. I provided you with the map, it's probably better for you to see the environment with your own eyes than be trying to explain it. Besides, until you get Koraidon/Moraidon, you probably can't explore any of it anyway.
Over the bridge next to the lighthouse and you'll come to the first town and Pokemon Center. This is just likely to be a stop to do some tutorials, begin setting up the plot, and provide a quick moment for the player to maybe get some items & catch some more Pokemon. Passing by some ponds you come to the gates of Mesagoza. Though before going in just want to note that there's yet another Pokemon Center right outside the gates, even though the small town is not that far away; so I'm going to guess there might be a major battle which occurs between exiting the small town and arriving at Mesagoza's gate (possibly right outside the gate). That or maybe they expect you to explore and get into a batch of Wild Battles so put a Pokemon Center there to save you the time (I notice the wall along the gate has a gap a bit to the right leading to a small area).
Mesagoza is a BIG city; this is what Motostoke and Wyndon should have been like! Before we even get to the Academy we see the town center/plaza is a big art piece with a battlefield in a middle of a rainbow 12-pointed star (which might be related to a speculated compass theme?) which has an inner ring displaying a symbol for each of the 18 Types as we seen in the trailers. If that wasn't enough, to the left on a lower level is another battlefield, mostly blue except half of the Poke Ball logo is like stained glass or colored cobblestone. I wouldn't find this second battlefield strange if it wasn't for there being no other battlefields in Mesagoza or how isolated it feels (at first it looks like there's a Pokemon Center right above it, but taking a careful look you'll see the Center is on a higher level and its a short run around between it and the battlefield). The right side looks to have two parks, one on the lower level near the gates and another on top to the right of the Academy (though calling it a park is a bit generous, it's more like a greenway). Before moving to the Academy want to note there is a second Pokemon Center, right in front of the south gate; which only makes the placement of the west Pokemon Center even stranger as its quite a distance away from the west gate, it's in a strange spot when you think about it.
Up a long flight of stairs at the back of Mesagoza is the Academy, finally made it... Well that was a nice trip let's finally get this road trip started! Though I'd be remissed not to point out the cave to the left of the Academy, its exit point further up and left with a path leading to a building with a battlefield on top of it (and Pokemon Center in front). Having four colored corners, its predicted this is the Pokemon League which would make that cave Victory Road. But that's for WAY later in the game (would be funny if they let us go to the Pokemon League early though, obviously can't challenge the League without the 8 Badges but would be for fun, especially if they did have something you could do up there where you need no stinkin' Badges.
(2.) To The Left, To The Left:
I think things are gonna speed up from here.
The big thing about this game is that you can go anywhere you want, challenge the Gyms in any order you want, and/or do parts for the other two stories at any time you want. But let's be honest, most will probably go either left/clockwise or righ/counter-clockwise and doing everything they can once they come across it. As much as I want to be a contrarian, for analysis sake I'll stick with the direction I did in my previous post and go left/clockwise.
We enter what looks to be a plateau. Not far from the gate is a Pokemon Center and a 2-story old, possibly ancient tower. These ancient towers seem to have something to do with one of the other stories, maybe the same one that the lighthouses are involved with? Past the ancient tower we come to a stretch of plowed fields growing what I assume to be crops. In the middle is a town, full of green despite being in a plateau. The most notable feature of the town, aside for some reason having TWO Pokemon Centers on eitherside of it (geez GF, just put one in the middle!), is a several-story building which is actually the Gyms in this gen/region. Usually nearby the Gyms are a battlefield of some kind, possibly designed based on the Gym Leader's preference. The one in this town looks to be made from wood & next to it is a viewing platform made on the top of trees (and its colored mostly tan with half the Poke Ball lime green); I'm guessing this is the Grass-Type Gym.
Before moving on, the plateau is connected to a green, cliff-filled area (which has a bunch of ponds near the shore) which is right next to the first town, except you're now on the cliffs overlooking it (not to mention Koraidon/Moraidon look to be able to climb sides of cliff in their land forms). While visually an explorers delight (don't think I don't see you hidden away beach area), the reason I brought this place to attention is because there's another 2-story ancient tower here.
Now there's two ways to get to the "next town". Going from the plateau you travel winding path northwest, cross a bridge, pass Pokemon Center, and down a LONG stretch of path before reaching a mountain ridge. While we don't see the "entrance" there seems to be a cave down there as we see the other end which leads onto the most southwest cliff where an arid town is. If you went down to the cliff-filled area, then I don't see why it wouldn't be possible to take a shortcut and just climb up the side of the cliff which then has a terrace leading down to it. If its true open world that should be possible. Anyway, arid town is another with a Gym with a nearby (purple?) battlefield covered by a dome. The arid environment and the battlefield being covered by a dome to guard it and whoever is battling from the sun gives me Fire-Type vibes. Oh. and before you leave from up there, be sure to go to the grass field above it where there's a 3-story ancient tower in a middle of of a pool of water.
(3.) Upwards & Around Top:
Travelling up/north, you pass by a trio of windmills (and a batch of wind turbines over to the left though I don't think those are important) and approach a fork in the path. One keeps going northwest entering a cave with a sandy slope; I'm not sure where it goes. Meanwhile in front of you is a bridge, so let's cross it instead. On the other side you turn right/east, passing more windmills, and look to come to more splitting paths. One u-turns west to who knows where (the other entrance to the above mentioned cave?), the other keeps going east. Stick to the straight path and you'll arrive to the next city, BUT there's a side path which not only passes by a 2-story ancient tower but also this routes first instance of what looks to be (navy) race flags. These flags are connect to the third story and, well, they seem to indicate a racing mechanic? This area does have a path which loops in a circle, so it would be an ideal place for a race (it is cheating if I'm riding on a Legendary that's also a motorbike?). Well when you're ready head into the city.
Now I'm not sure if there's a path you could take which first takes you into & through the desert (maybe the sandy cave?), but nevertheless we're now in a city built on a river which passes to the side of the desert, looking like an oasis. Though don't worry, no matter what path you take there's a Pokemon Center to greet you on either end of the city. This city is another Gym, can you guess what Typ... Water, it's Water-type.
If you haven't already, time to trudge through a desert where there's a 1-story ancient tower toppling over somewhere in the middle. When you reach a circle of stones you know you're almost out of the sand (though it sadly got everywhere) and back on green fields and the trusty path! As you go up you hit another fork (as well as a Pokemon Center), with the left/west taking you to a port town which is overlooked by a (yellow) lighthouse. While a town and certainly has a few places of interest, I don't believe it to be a Gym-hosting town and some images seem to confirm it. Still, those warehouses and that big building in the middle (a outdoor market?) is always worth exploring for free stuff!
Going right/east leads you too... well this is one point where the map loses me. The path suddenly stops at this cliff which has what looks to be three meteor impact sites on top, however there doesn't look to be a cave. I'm now wondering if this meteor impact slab is meant to be attached to the desert on a higher level and the path is continuing underneath it out-of-site. This is a bit supported by a visible bridge on the other side which leads to a obscured path heading into our next city.
This city has a rigid feeling to it, more industrialize with most buildings being office buildings and apartment complexes. Though one of them stands out, the Gym building, though there doesn't look to be a battlefield. But there is this "observatory" hanging over the inside of the caldera that's in the center of the region. I would imagine "observatory" is monitoring activity inside the caldera, likely seismic activity, so assuming the Gym's Type would relate to a Town's/City's theme or notable aspect, I'm going to guess Ground-type for this one.
Now after healing at your Pokemon Center of your choice (which for some reason it has two even though it could have had just one on the main path above), you could go east immediately and start going up the snowy mountain, but you'll be missing out on an entire lake and its surroundings! Go north from the city and you'll cross a bridge that takes you to a giant lake. Now it would be at this point in the game you'd be given the ability to surf, though with the open-end style I have no idea what they're going to plan on doing. Anyway, while there's no Gyms around the lake, what there are is THREE 2-story ancient towers! Geez, you think that's enough? BTW, if you're looking to add a Paldean Wooper to your party, there looks to be a muddy bog on the northern side of the lake.
Now with that done (or not, as I said you could have just gone to toward the next Gym town), time to start heading up the snowy mountain. There looks to be multiple ways of tackling this (including skipping it and come back later), but gonna take the one which hits all the beats. Keeping to the path you travel the left/west side of the mountain until hitting a dead end. If you continue forward you'll find a Pokemon Center and a bit more up a (green) lighthouse and (pink?) race flags (doesn't look to be much of an area to race, unless your racing on the water).
Now it's time to climb up, and if you did you'll reach the next town. And look, there's the Gym building! Awesome, and further around the mountain you can see the battlefield... and ANOTHER Gym building. Yes, according to the map which might be showing where the Gyms are, there are TWO Gyms in the snowy mountain (I would have thought there would be one in Mesagoza, but apparently not). Now we know on of the Gyms is Ice-type run by Grusha, likely the Gym which is right next to the battlefield as that's where his battle takes place. But what about the other Gym? Well, if there is truly two Gyms up here, and one is the obvious Ice-type, being this town is probably the highest in all of Paldea I'm going to guess Flying-type. Yes, I know, Flying-type is weak to Ice. Like, there being two Gyms up here is already throwing me off, on top of it being in a pretty awkward location and the obvious Type is confirmed. How about we start getting down?
(4.) Falling Action:
On your way down the snowy mountain do note there's a 1-story ancient tower just after you reach the snowless part of the mountain on its right/east side. But what if you didn't want to tackle the snowy mountain yet? Well it looks like there's a an unmarked path at the southern base of the mountain, nothing Koraidon/Moraidon no doubt can rough it. If you follow the "straightest" way it would lead you to a bridge that leads up to the ancient tower.
From here there's no clear path down, from what I can tell you either go down where the ancient tower is or on the other side of the bridge. If you went down by the ancient tower you'll come across a Pokemon Center and be next to a small mountain range where the mountains have a tall, sharp black point. There doesn't look to be a direct way into it (unless you climb over), but for those on the other two storylines you'll want to get in there as not only is there two ancient towers (a 2-story and 1-story right next to one another) but also (yellow) race flags (and this looks like one HECK of a race track!). Though, there does seem to be more to this place than this map is letting on; that's right, its GF's good ol' tradition of hiding locations on the map with clouds! It looks like quite the chunk of land that's being covered, enough to maybe be covering the Battle Tower expy? Or maybe it has to do with the climax of the main story, with one of the stories being the League Challenge they can't just end it with the player becoming the Champion (or rather earning a Champion Rank).
Going south from the Pokemon Center (and crossing a bridge) or having gone down on the other side of the above bridge, you'll smack right dab into (purple) race flags (I hope Koraidon/Moraidon likes mud between their tires). This area looks to be a quarry, upon entering it you'll find a Pokemon Center, and if you go straight south for a bit you'll find ANOTHER Pokemon Center (GF, I can't help but feel you could have probably combined these into one) next to a battlefield and this ancient mud/clay hut. No, this isn't a Gym, so your guess is as good as mine on what it is (and I have no clue). But one thing the quarry does have are paths, and following them leads you to a 3-story ancient tower! And if you keep following them you get out of the quarry and down to the next city which is by the "final" (blue) lighthouse (or I guess the second if you go the other way, the yellow lighthouse being your last one then)
This city looks pretty high tech, or at least modern. Most notable features would be the Poke Ball Logo-shaped bridge, those skyscrapers on the island in the middle of the water, and of course the Gym! Having already done Water, considering the structure of this city, I'm going with strong Steel-type to make strong bridges, manmade islands, & towering buildings. And I guess this city is big enough to have two Pokemon Centers at either end...
Continue following the southside path, which takes a sharp turn east, and you'll run into the "final" (red) race flags. Man, these last two race flags were easy to stumble onto, as if they were the first two race flags you'd encounter if you went the other way... oh. Well, um, following the path you'd come across a Pokemon Center, which is your hint that to the left/east of it there's a 2-story ancient tower.
Don't bother going back to the random Pokemon Center, just keep following the path and you'll reach the "final" town (or your third human settlement if you went the other way) with the "final" Gym (or your first Gym is you went the other... you know what I'm going to stop using the word "final"). Now we've seen images of this town in the trailer, its the one with the green battlefield and the windmill and surrounded by the potted Sunflora "status". At the time I thought this would be the Grass-type Gym... but then I saw the plateau farm town. "Well maybe you're wrong, this place also has a hedge maze"! It certainly does feel like a fun and colorful town, doesn't it? It gives me a sort of mini-golf or country fair kind of feel. Because of this, I'm gonna make a bold claim and say this is the kind of place a Fairy-type would be.
When you're ready to leave (don't forget to stop at the gift shop in the second Pokemon Center on your way out), follow the path west into a canyon area. To those who followed the path I took, this will feel like the final trek through a rough terrain. Though, for those who chose this path first, it'll feel like a beginning of a grand adventure. Eitherway, don't forget to do the two 2-story ancient towers (the first two for those who went right, possibly the final two for those of us that went left).
(5.) Here We Are Again:
And with that (or rather one more Pokemon Center for good measure before re-entering Mesagoza... whose eastside Pokemon Center is right by the gate) we've made a full circle around Paldea!
BUT WAIT! There's one more rather random thing I noticed. Now, all around the coast there's been beaches and small islands, as you expect. But there's one that caught my eye: the southeast beach has a random Pokemon Center placed there.
Anyway, in the end I've counted 15 ancient towers & 5 race flags. And with there being 8 Gyms, that's quite the quantity contrast between the three story paths. Like unless the quality of each activity balances the number out, those who may find the race flags story interesting are going to get the short end of the stick. And 15 I would actually say is a lot, hopefully what you need to do at the ancient towers isn't tedious.
(1.) Adventure Start:
We'll start where all Pokemon Adventures start, at our house at the very bottom of the map! Right across from our home is the presumed Professor's House where we get our Starter. BTW, the trailer shows there's two NPCs along the path between the two houses, one of them being the "Science is amazing" guy. We also meet Nemona at this time and go down the stairs behind the house to the beach where there's a (blue) battlefield where we likely have our first Rival Battle. However, if we look back at the new trailer, we learn something else about this beach: this seems to be where we first encounter Koraidon/Moraidon. I doubt this will happen right after the Rival Battle with Nemona, my guess is that we'll first go to the Academy, attend some classes, be sent on the Treasure Hunt, and then we'll for some reason be asked to return to the Professor's House where we'll be lured down to the beach by Koraidon/Moraidon for them to partner-up with us. Otherwise there's nothing else left to do on this beach (at least without the ability to swim, and I suspect that Koraidon/Moraidon won't have their swimming (or flying) forms when you first partner-up.
Anyway, back to the path and we go up a long winding path which passes, among other things, a (red) lighthouse. In the new trailer, when mentioning the 3 stories part of the Treasure Hunt, this lighthouse was shown, so it's likely this lighthouse and the others are just here for show. But likely can't do anything the first time passing by (maybe there will be a cutscene noting it, we'll see). Also, unless it's notable, I'll be skipping over any environment details. I provided you with the map, it's probably better for you to see the environment with your own eyes than be trying to explain it. Besides, until you get Koraidon/Moraidon, you probably can't explore any of it anyway.
Over the bridge next to the lighthouse and you'll come to the first town and Pokemon Center. This is just likely to be a stop to do some tutorials, begin setting up the plot, and provide a quick moment for the player to maybe get some items & catch some more Pokemon. Passing by some ponds you come to the gates of Mesagoza. Though before going in just want to note that there's yet another Pokemon Center right outside the gates, even though the small town is not that far away; so I'm going to guess there might be a major battle which occurs between exiting the small town and arriving at Mesagoza's gate (possibly right outside the gate). That or maybe they expect you to explore and get into a batch of Wild Battles so put a Pokemon Center there to save you the time (I notice the wall along the gate has a gap a bit to the right leading to a small area).
Mesagoza is a BIG city; this is what Motostoke and Wyndon should have been like! Before we even get to the Academy we see the town center/plaza is a big art piece with a battlefield in a middle of a rainbow 12-pointed star (which might be related to a speculated compass theme?) which has an inner ring displaying a symbol for each of the 18 Types as we seen in the trailers. If that wasn't enough, to the left on a lower level is another battlefield, mostly blue except half of the Poke Ball logo is like stained glass or colored cobblestone. I wouldn't find this second battlefield strange if it wasn't for there being no other battlefields in Mesagoza or how isolated it feels (at first it looks like there's a Pokemon Center right above it, but taking a careful look you'll see the Center is on a higher level and its a short run around between it and the battlefield). The right side looks to have two parks, one on the lower level near the gates and another on top to the right of the Academy (though calling it a park is a bit generous, it's more like a greenway). Before moving to the Academy want to note there is a second Pokemon Center, right in front of the south gate; which only makes the placement of the west Pokemon Center even stranger as its quite a distance away from the west gate, it's in a strange spot when you think about it.
Up a long flight of stairs at the back of Mesagoza is the Academy, finally made it... Well that was a nice trip let's finally get this road trip started! Though I'd be remissed not to point out the cave to the left of the Academy, its exit point further up and left with a path leading to a building with a battlefield on top of it (and Pokemon Center in front). Having four colored corners, its predicted this is the Pokemon League which would make that cave Victory Road. But that's for WAY later in the game (would be funny if they let us go to the Pokemon League early though, obviously can't challenge the League without the 8 Badges but would be for fun, especially if they did have something you could do up there where you need no stinkin' Badges.
(2.) To The Left, To The Left:
I think things are gonna speed up from here.
The big thing about this game is that you can go anywhere you want, challenge the Gyms in any order you want, and/or do parts for the other two stories at any time you want. But let's be honest, most will probably go either left/clockwise or righ/counter-clockwise and doing everything they can once they come across it. As much as I want to be a contrarian, for analysis sake I'll stick with the direction I did in my previous post and go left/clockwise.
We enter what looks to be a plateau. Not far from the gate is a Pokemon Center and a 2-story old, possibly ancient tower. These ancient towers seem to have something to do with one of the other stories, maybe the same one that the lighthouses are involved with? Past the ancient tower we come to a stretch of plowed fields growing what I assume to be crops. In the middle is a town, full of green despite being in a plateau. The most notable feature of the town, aside for some reason having TWO Pokemon Centers on eitherside of it (geez GF, just put one in the middle!), is a several-story building which is actually the Gyms in this gen/region. Usually nearby the Gyms are a battlefield of some kind, possibly designed based on the Gym Leader's preference. The one in this town looks to be made from wood & next to it is a viewing platform made on the top of trees (and its colored mostly tan with half the Poke Ball lime green); I'm guessing this is the Grass-Type Gym.
Before moving on, the plateau is connected to a green, cliff-filled area (which has a bunch of ponds near the shore) which is right next to the first town, except you're now on the cliffs overlooking it (not to mention Koraidon/Moraidon look to be able to climb sides of cliff in their land forms). While visually an explorers delight (don't think I don't see you hidden away beach area), the reason I brought this place to attention is because there's another 2-story ancient tower here.
Now there's two ways to get to the "next town". Going from the plateau you travel winding path northwest, cross a bridge, pass Pokemon Center, and down a LONG stretch of path before reaching a mountain ridge. While we don't see the "entrance" there seems to be a cave down there as we see the other end which leads onto the most southwest cliff where an arid town is. If you went down to the cliff-filled area, then I don't see why it wouldn't be possible to take a shortcut and just climb up the side of the cliff which then has a terrace leading down to it. If its true open world that should be possible. Anyway, arid town is another with a Gym with a nearby (purple?) battlefield covered by a dome. The arid environment and the battlefield being covered by a dome to guard it and whoever is battling from the sun gives me Fire-Type vibes. Oh. and before you leave from up there, be sure to go to the grass field above it where there's a 3-story ancient tower in a middle of of a pool of water.
(3.) Upwards & Around Top:
Travelling up/north, you pass by a trio of windmills (and a batch of wind turbines over to the left though I don't think those are important) and approach a fork in the path. One keeps going northwest entering a cave with a sandy slope; I'm not sure where it goes. Meanwhile in front of you is a bridge, so let's cross it instead. On the other side you turn right/east, passing more windmills, and look to come to more splitting paths. One u-turns west to who knows where (the other entrance to the above mentioned cave?), the other keeps going east. Stick to the straight path and you'll arrive to the next city, BUT there's a side path which not only passes by a 2-story ancient tower but also this routes first instance of what looks to be (navy) race flags. These flags are connect to the third story and, well, they seem to indicate a racing mechanic? This area does have a path which loops in a circle, so it would be an ideal place for a race (it is cheating if I'm riding on a Legendary that's also a motorbike?). Well when you're ready head into the city.
Now I'm not sure if there's a path you could take which first takes you into & through the desert (maybe the sandy cave?), but nevertheless we're now in a city built on a river which passes to the side of the desert, looking like an oasis. Though don't worry, no matter what path you take there's a Pokemon Center to greet you on either end of the city. This city is another Gym, can you guess what Typ... Water, it's Water-type.
If you haven't already, time to trudge through a desert where there's a 1-story ancient tower toppling over somewhere in the middle. When you reach a circle of stones you know you're almost out of the sand (though it sadly got everywhere) and back on green fields and the trusty path! As you go up you hit another fork (as well as a Pokemon Center), with the left/west taking you to a port town which is overlooked by a (yellow) lighthouse. While a town and certainly has a few places of interest, I don't believe it to be a Gym-hosting town and some images seem to confirm it. Still, those warehouses and that big building in the middle (a outdoor market?) is always worth exploring for free stuff!
Going right/east leads you too... well this is one point where the map loses me. The path suddenly stops at this cliff which has what looks to be three meteor impact sites on top, however there doesn't look to be a cave. I'm now wondering if this meteor impact slab is meant to be attached to the desert on a higher level and the path is continuing underneath it out-of-site. This is a bit supported by a visible bridge on the other side which leads to a obscured path heading into our next city.
This city has a rigid feeling to it, more industrialize with most buildings being office buildings and apartment complexes. Though one of them stands out, the Gym building, though there doesn't look to be a battlefield. But there is this "observatory" hanging over the inside of the caldera that's in the center of the region. I would imagine "observatory" is monitoring activity inside the caldera, likely seismic activity, so assuming the Gym's Type would relate to a Town's/City's theme or notable aspect, I'm going to guess Ground-type for this one.
Now after healing at your Pokemon Center of your choice (which for some reason it has two even though it could have had just one on the main path above), you could go east immediately and start going up the snowy mountain, but you'll be missing out on an entire lake and its surroundings! Go north from the city and you'll cross a bridge that takes you to a giant lake. Now it would be at this point in the game you'd be given the ability to surf, though with the open-end style I have no idea what they're going to plan on doing. Anyway, while there's no Gyms around the lake, what there are is THREE 2-story ancient towers! Geez, you think that's enough? BTW, if you're looking to add a Paldean Wooper to your party, there looks to be a muddy bog on the northern side of the lake.
Now with that done (or not, as I said you could have just gone to toward the next Gym town), time to start heading up the snowy mountain. There looks to be multiple ways of tackling this (including skipping it and come back later), but gonna take the one which hits all the beats. Keeping to the path you travel the left/west side of the mountain until hitting a dead end. If you continue forward you'll find a Pokemon Center and a bit more up a (green) lighthouse and (pink?) race flags (doesn't look to be much of an area to race, unless your racing on the water).
Now it's time to climb up, and if you did you'll reach the next town. And look, there's the Gym building! Awesome, and further around the mountain you can see the battlefield... and ANOTHER Gym building. Yes, according to the map which might be showing where the Gyms are, there are TWO Gyms in the snowy mountain (I would have thought there would be one in Mesagoza, but apparently not). Now we know on of the Gyms is Ice-type run by Grusha, likely the Gym which is right next to the battlefield as that's where his battle takes place. But what about the other Gym? Well, if there is truly two Gyms up here, and one is the obvious Ice-type, being this town is probably the highest in all of Paldea I'm going to guess Flying-type. Yes, I know, Flying-type is weak to Ice. Like, there being two Gyms up here is already throwing me off, on top of it being in a pretty awkward location and the obvious Type is confirmed. How about we start getting down?
(4.) Falling Action:
On your way down the snowy mountain do note there's a 1-story ancient tower just after you reach the snowless part of the mountain on its right/east side. But what if you didn't want to tackle the snowy mountain yet? Well it looks like there's a an unmarked path at the southern base of the mountain, nothing Koraidon/Moraidon no doubt can rough it. If you follow the "straightest" way it would lead you to a bridge that leads up to the ancient tower.
From here there's no clear path down, from what I can tell you either go down where the ancient tower is or on the other side of the bridge. If you went down by the ancient tower you'll come across a Pokemon Center and be next to a small mountain range where the mountains have a tall, sharp black point. There doesn't look to be a direct way into it (unless you climb over), but for those on the other two storylines you'll want to get in there as not only is there two ancient towers (a 2-story and 1-story right next to one another) but also (yellow) race flags (and this looks like one HECK of a race track!). Though, there does seem to be more to this place than this map is letting on; that's right, its GF's good ol' tradition of hiding locations on the map with clouds! It looks like quite the chunk of land that's being covered, enough to maybe be covering the Battle Tower expy? Or maybe it has to do with the climax of the main story, with one of the stories being the League Challenge they can't just end it with the player becoming the Champion (or rather earning a Champion Rank).
Going south from the Pokemon Center (and crossing a bridge) or having gone down on the other side of the above bridge, you'll smack right dab into (purple) race flags (I hope Koraidon/Moraidon likes mud between their tires). This area looks to be a quarry, upon entering it you'll find a Pokemon Center, and if you go straight south for a bit you'll find ANOTHER Pokemon Center (GF, I can't help but feel you could have probably combined these into one) next to a battlefield and this ancient mud/clay hut. No, this isn't a Gym, so your guess is as good as mine on what it is (and I have no clue). But one thing the quarry does have are paths, and following them leads you to a 3-story ancient tower! And if you keep following them you get out of the quarry and down to the next city which is by the "final" (blue) lighthouse (or I guess the second if you go the other way, the yellow lighthouse being your last one then)
This city looks pretty high tech, or at least modern. Most notable features would be the Poke Ball Logo-shaped bridge, those skyscrapers on the island in the middle of the water, and of course the Gym! Having already done Water, considering the structure of this city, I'm going with strong Steel-type to make strong bridges, manmade islands, & towering buildings. And I guess this city is big enough to have two Pokemon Centers at either end...
Continue following the southside path, which takes a sharp turn east, and you'll run into the "final" (red) race flags. Man, these last two race flags were easy to stumble onto, as if they were the first two race flags you'd encounter if you went the other way... oh. Well, um, following the path you'd come across a Pokemon Center, which is your hint that to the left/east of it there's a 2-story ancient tower.
Don't bother going back to the random Pokemon Center, just keep following the path and you'll reach the "final" town (or your third human settlement if you went the other way) with the "final" Gym (or your first Gym is you went the other... you know what I'm going to stop using the word "final"). Now we've seen images of this town in the trailer, its the one with the green battlefield and the windmill and surrounded by the potted Sunflora "status". At the time I thought this would be the Grass-type Gym... but then I saw the plateau farm town. "Well maybe you're wrong, this place also has a hedge maze"! It certainly does feel like a fun and colorful town, doesn't it? It gives me a sort of mini-golf or country fair kind of feel. Because of this, I'm gonna make a bold claim and say this is the kind of place a Fairy-type would be.
When you're ready to leave (don't forget to stop at the gift shop in the second Pokemon Center on your way out), follow the path west into a canyon area. To those who followed the path I took, this will feel like the final trek through a rough terrain. Though, for those who chose this path first, it'll feel like a beginning of a grand adventure. Eitherway, don't forget to do the two 2-story ancient towers (the first two for those who went right, possibly the final two for those of us that went left).
(5.) Here We Are Again:
And with that (or rather one more Pokemon Center for good measure before re-entering Mesagoza... whose eastside Pokemon Center is right by the gate) we've made a full circle around Paldea!
BUT WAIT! There's one more rather random thing I noticed. Now, all around the coast there's been beaches and small islands, as you expect. But there's one that caught my eye: the southeast beach has a random Pokemon Center placed there.
Anyway, in the end I've counted 15 ancient towers & 5 race flags. And with there being 8 Gyms, that's quite the quantity contrast between the three story paths. Like unless the quality of each activity balances the number out, those who may find the race flags story interesting are going to get the short end of the stick. And 15 I would actually say is a lot, hopefully what you need to do at the ancient towers isn't tedious.
It's probably 18 ancient towers, there's just some that aren't visible for whatever reason. That's 1 per type, which would mean you need to do something with Tera types there. Unlock a specific type, fight a mon with a specific type, use a mon with a specific type, something like that.
Huh, I hadn't thought of Tera being like Z crystals, but that's a possibility. Something like "you can only terarize a pokemon if your Tera Orb has absorbed the power of their Tera type, so visit the ancient towers and touch the crystals within to gain that power". That would let GF lock the more powerful/weird/niche types in distant corners of the map, forcing the player to only Tera their starter for the first 2+hours.
Yung Dramps
awesome gaming
Ok so was looking over the map again for reasons related to leaks that I can't post about and finally realized a really strange detail that I don't think I've seen anyone else discuss.
What the heck are these fiery wisp things? I think for a while I wrote them off as autumn leaves or something but upon closer inspection that's clearly not what they are lol they too amorphous and glowy. Even if they were, why are they blowing around all over the map? Neither the Galar or BDSP Sinnoh maps had a comparable detail like this. I dunno bros, seems kinda sus.
What the heck are these fiery wisp things? I think for a while I wrote them off as autumn leaves or something but upon closer inspection that's clearly not what they are lol they too amorphous and glowy. Even if they were, why are they blowing around all over the map? Neither the Galar or BDSP Sinnoh maps had a comparable detail like this. I dunno bros, seems kinda sus.
If that's the case they could give you the 3 starter types to begin with and just have the other 15 types in the towers.