Cutiefly, Charjabug, Vikavolt, Drampa, Togedemaru, Bruxish, and Tapu Koko Revealed!

Oh wow, that's a bit much.
I really wanted them to slow down with reveals, but seems like they're speeding up instead. Let's hope this means there is like 150 new Pokémon? I didn't like how we have basically ALL new Pokémon revealed up to XY-release, combined with the low number in general leaving everyone with a reaction of "wait, that's all?", when we expected there to be about half of the new Pokemon still unrevealed...

But alright, no going back, they don't care about spoiling all of them in favor of abusing them for marketing purposes... I used to think that the only CORRECT way to be introduced to a new Pokémon design (except for starters), was to encounter it in it's intended context, whether it's its wild encounter environment, or some fitting trainer/gym-leader to show it off etc. And most importantly, on an individual basis, one at a time (it always saddens me when a huge batch of new Pokémon are leaked, and people just scroll through them in a minute and "judge" them as a whole group rather than actually looking at their designs noticing all the interesting details and possible basis etc...), but they've completely shattered this philosophical stance of mine in gen6 and don't seem to intend to turn back ):
I don't know, do they really need to maximize profit so bad or what's changed?

Aaaaanyhow, excuse my little rant, let's get ot the new reveals.

-Charjabug
I expected a less mobile design for the "cocoon" stage, but it's weird enough and would even work as a primary Electric type with how it looks like you could put a lot of them together in a line lol. creepy teeth ftw

-Vikavolt
Whoa. That is "cooler" than what I thought it would be. The colour combo is perfect, love it. But inb4 Dustox stats v_v
Also, this adds yet another (to the already huuuuge list of) clearly airborne Pokémon that isn't Flying type... cmon Gamefreak, it's time to separate "being airborne" from the Flying type already (I know it sounds contradictory, but it's the most elegant solution.).
1. Make Flying merely resist Ground
2. add an "airborne" mechanic. Every Pokémon species is now either airborne or grounded.
3. instead of "airborne" Pokémon being immune to "Ground type"-moves, add a category of "ground-based" moves, which airborne grants immunity to.
Now all the airborne Pokémon, regardless of their type, are still immune to moves like Earthquake, but also Surf and Spikes, while NOT being immune to a Mud Shot or Bonemerang for example.

-Drampa
OH MY GOD IT'S FUCHUR : DDD
I keep saying we need more casual or generic Dragons (since most of them so far are either a-Legendary, b-pseudolegend or c-as secondary slapped onto something exotic.), but this is so casual that it's even a Normal type XDDDDDDDDD
Alright. Kinda hope it has a lower stage, but it'll probably be a Druddigon recycle in terms of total base stats.. we need a simple Dragon with 2 stages (Altaria doesn't count, it doesn't even start out as one..). Hmm, it's actually Normal/Dragon in that order, I'm curious if there is any special reason behind this, but then again, I'm still confused by Noibat..

-Togedemaru
Awww... please evolve...and while they're at it, can we get a Pachirisu/Emolga/Dedenne trio of evolutions as well? ^^" meh, waiting for Mega Raichu is already too unrealistic.
And yay for Electrc+Steel being used again. One of those combos I anticipate every gen (like Grass+Poison, Water+Ground etc...), yet we haven't had any since Magnemite, although pikaclone isn't the first thing I'd want to use for resurrecting that combo.

-Bruxish
I'm all for aquatic Pokemon, there isn't many, and barely any of them are good enough to be common in competitive (well Gyarados/Milotic). Fish are kind of like the Bug types of Pokemon, weak and repetitive, despite there being so many interesting creatures in the oceans.
Still waiting for a fish that actually evolves twice (that doesn't turn into a Dragon in the end coughKingdracough while leaving it's proper fish counterpart behind), but this seems more like "a funny design" based pokemon rather than for a role. When I say that there is a lot of weird stuff in the ocean to base Pokémon-designs on....this is not what I mean! Just kidding.
Another long forgotten type combo here ;D

-Cutiefly
Bug freaking Fairy. That was quick XD
EVEN THIS SOONER THAN BUG/DARK.
Enough said. I have a feeling its evolution is what's going to become its selling point akin to Galvantula.

Before I go to the, in my opinion highlight of this reveal, Tapu Koku (is its name actually 2 parts?), I want to mention one more thing.
Most of the new Pokémon we've seen so far, seem to be exotic and cool type combinations.. and sure, they get everyone excited, but I feel like there needs to be a certain balance between simple Pokemon and exotic type combos, there is no need to overdo this. Gen6 IMO did overdo it (I mean cmon, everything besides what, Skiddo?, was some fancy dual type, from starters, over rodent, to all the Dragons and Fire types etc.. oh right, the pseudo-legendary was pure Dragon, but that might be because that was actually not done before, so it's the same mindset), but it's already a very odd generation anyway, as it had to focus on establishing Fairy and with having a lower amount of Pokémon, as well as having its region filled with old Pokemon in all their common roles, it did really make sense to focus on exotic all the way with the rest of the new Pokémon. So far it looks like Electric-galore (gen6 had a generous amount of Fire types in that sense) as well as Fairy-combos (which are welcome with the type still being fresh...but hey, Fairy already started more diverse and established than some types we've had for a long time, so no rush there..)... but I'm overreacting. It would look more balanced if they'd have revealed the simple yet refreshing pure Rock-type doggie with this group.

-Tapu Koku
I have a plethora of predictions that popped into my head the moment I saw this one.
First of all, it's pretty much given that this is a legendary. Secondly, it's really obvious that this is one of many, I mean, a legendary tri.... quartet.
Because it's the guardian of the island the adventure starts on, which is literally named after the hawaiian word for yellow (melemele). It's a safe guess that the other 3 islands are named after colours as well (either matching the real world counterparts of which Hawaiian islands each biggest part of an island of the region is shaped after, giving us: orange, pink, purple. Or going for a simple and gen1-nostalgic choice of: green, red, blue. OR something completely arbitrary to fit some designs), which would logically have their own guardians.
Now.. Tapu Koku has an ability that activates the extremely unused Electric Terrain. One of 3 terrain-effects introduced in XY.

The obvious speculation here would be, that two of the other guardians have a variation of Tapu Kokus ability, triggering Grassy Terrain and Misty Terrain instead.
-Yellow: Electric/Fairy
-Green: Grass/Fairy
-Pink: Fairy (which is extremely reminiscent of Tornadus having "Flying" as its "elemental" or core type, as well as the legendary group being secondary Flying, resulting in Tornadus being a pure Flying type. So I can totally see this happening here)

Side-note: all the Lake-guardian/Kami-trio haters better not start another hate-train once these guardians turn out to have the same base-design, while crying for 10 more eeveelutions at the same time, geeez.

Ummm where was I..

If it really is a quartet, we're missing one more...which means one of 3 things:
1. the fourth legendary is out of the trios league, akin to beasts->Ho-oh, or less drastic golems->Regigigas. Perhaps Lunala/Solgaleo fill the role as guardian of the fourth island depending on the version, but I'd bet on the fourth guardian being something else tailored to the group.
2. Weather-inducing abilities are legit choices, which potentially gives us more hypothetical pokemon
-Blue (Drizzle): Water/Fairy
-Red (Drought): Fire/Fairy
-White (Hail): Ice/Fairy
-Orange or Brown (Sandstorm): Ground/Fairy or Rock/Fairy
3. new Terrain-effect varieties! Or at least one.

Oh, also, notice how Tapu Koku can close itself to a totem-form? What other Pokémon does something like that? Magearna.
There is a fifth "artificial" island in Alola. So it has an artificial fifth guardian, being Steel/Fairy.
Fits? : D

And it looks like Zygarde 50% can now transform into Zygarde Complete. It's Ability must have been retconned, since the Type Combo probably did no favours for it.

I wouldn't be surprised if the new ability simply takes the hidden-ability slot, making the new formes exclusive to a Zygarde obtained in SM, while our good old Zygardes from XY are stuck with stupid Aura Break ~__~
 
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Drampa could be Dunsparces evolution

I thought of that as well due to its primary Normal type, and it would be really epic and mindblowing and late (and most importantly confirming that cross-gen-evos are still a thing lol..)...but after Carnivine, Emolga, Alomomola and all the other regional-counterparts that people expect to be related but never are... this case seems even less likely ^^"
 
I like Tapu Koko, but a few of the others are just downright horrible. Drampa looks like he's from Neverending Story, Bruxish just looks kinda stupid. It's probably like Alolamola without any evolutions, and Togedemaru looks kinda dumb, I'm not a huge fan of these Pokemon, sorry. My only question is will there be 3 other Pokemon like Tapu Koko? And one more thing why is it a Litten facing Tapu Koko? Do we face it early in the game?
 
It's impressive; 17 new pokemon, and the overwhelming majority of them range between "... mmmmkay, whatever you say" and "oh, god, did sugimori have a stroke?".

I dearly hope pikipek and cutiefly evolve into something good; at least vikavolt isn't bad at all; that face is a little too inexpressive for my taste, but I can't argue with a sharp-lined railgun-beetle; I had been hoping for a beetle that actually looks like a beetle for ages.
 
Okay, now the official artwork has been added I love Drampa even more :D and Vikavolt looks even more menacing! This has made me 10x more excited for these games.
 
Design wise Tapu Koko and the first 2 revealed, the koala and the other are so far the only ones i like. These look rushed and not very creative.
 
I'm coming around on Bruxish, with its sharp teeth + lips and weird psychic head bulb. It's clearly supposed to be creepy looking, and they succeeded. My only issue is how fish still just levitate above dry terrain in battle. The more they flesh out the battle environments in Pokemon, the weirder that looks.

I'm intrigued by how Tapu Koko appears to be controlled by Hala when you encounter it. If it is indeed a legendary, that would be a big departure from the usual formula of "go to X location, meet legendary in the wild". In fact NPCs never control legendaries, except for N, off the top of my head. Hopefully that hints at S/M having a more involved story like B/W did.

Charjabug is definitely my favorite of these. It's like a subway car caterpillar, where its eyes are windows and its mouth is a door. Its cry even sounds like it goes "beep beep!"

Here's to hoping the rate of reveals so far means there's well over 100 new pokemon in this game! Odd-numbered gens have always introduced a lot more pokemon.
Gen 3: 134
Gen 5: 155
Gen 7: 170???
 
Charjabug is to me, the epitome of lazy design. They needed a cocoon to complete the line (assuming it evolves from grubbin) so they just slapped a box into the game and called it a day.

Vikavolt is pretty cool, and actually looks like a beetle (*looks at Heracross*). I'd be adding it to my team if I didn't have to use the awful Charjabug to get it.

Bruxish creeps me out. It looks sort of like a reef triggerfish that you'd find in a kids' colouring book. The ability is neat as it stops Talonflame unless it runs U-Turn, but outside of that I don't see a reason to use it.

Togedemaru, I originally didn't like it, but it's grown on me. It's like Pachirisu x Pufferfish, but I wasn't expecting it to be half Steel. I probably won't use it because you can catch Pichu in the early game, it seems, and Pichu >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Everyone else, though.

Tapu Koko is kind of strange. when I first saw it I thought it was Mega Aegislash. But now that I know it's its own thing, I like it. As someone has probably mentioned, when it goes together it looks like the head of a Totem Pole. Maybe you combine them into a Totem pole?

Drampa is great. When I first saw it, I had a tiny screenshot that cut out all the body so I thought it was Dragonair x Benjamin franklin, but now it looks like a Dunsparce evolution. I like it. Normal/Dragon is strange though, but I dig it.

Cutiefly is my favourite of the bunch. It's so adorable!!!!! Bug/Fairy is also a unique combination, which is great.
 
If Charjabug is NOT an evolution for Grubbin then I think Grubbin would be a Larvesta pre-evoluion, Drump looks like a dunsparce evolution too
 
Always so exciting to see new Pokemon. I'm especially excited by Tapu Koko, Drampa, and Vikavolt. I feel like each of them will bring something new to the competitive battling scene.

Bruxish also definitely brings something new with the anti-priority move. I'm more excited about the implications of that ability, than about Bruxish itself - cause it just looks weird. Hopefully other Pokemon also have that ability.

Cutiefly is, well, cute. But does it evolve?

And, Togedemaru is the obligatory electric rodent that will (probably) have no impact on the metagame. I would point out though, usually the electric rodent of the generation has some tie to the gimmick or new mechanic of a generation (e.g. baby Pokemon, double battle, fairy type). I wonder if Togedemaru provides us with any clues about what we should expect from gen 7 mechanics wise.
 
Charjabug is to me, the epitome of lazy design. They needed a cocoon to complete the line (assuming it evolves from grubbin) so they just slapped a box into the game and called it a day.

Vikavolt is pretty cool, and actually looks like a beetle (*looks at Heracross*). I'd be adding it to my team if I didn't have to use the awful Charjabug to get it.

You say lazily slapped on a box and called it a day, I say they ingeniously turned Charjabug into a car battery that evolves into jumper cables (Vikavolt). Nothing lazy about creatively taking a bug cocoon concept and merged it with an electrical theme of a battery seamlessly.
 
I called the terrain weather setters!!!???:0

Edit: I will be furious if the island guardians become voltron
 
You say lazily slapped on a box and called it a day, I say they ingeniously turned Charjabug into a car battery that evolves into jumper cables (Vikavolt). Nothing lazy about creatively taking a bug cocoon concept and merged it with an electrical theme of a battery seamlessly.

And this right here is why you don't say "unoriginal" or "lazy" when it comes to pokemon designs. There is always someone who can show that they don't apply.
In my opinion all of these designs are fairly good with the exception of the pikaclone which looks to much like dedenne
 
As for the ability, if what I predict is correct, they have probably changed Zygarde 50%'s ability to Swarm Change (so it can also transform) and gave Aura Break to Complete Zygarde.
I'm just bummed that in this video they also showed Zygarde transforming when its HP got in the red... I was hoping Zygarde could transform at least after losing half of its HP...

It likely doesn't have Aura Break as its ability, because if so, it would have seen activating in the trailer by default. They are keeping the ability hidden for now, for some reason. If its Aura Break though, that is really going to suck big time.

As for the Transformation feature of Zygarde and from what we have seen now, I speculate it works in the following manner:

Zygarde 10% Forme ---> Zygarde 50% Forme (when HP is at yellow) *yet to be proven*
Zygarde 10% Forme ---> Zygarde Complete Forme (when HP is at red) *Confirmed*
Zygarde 50% Forme ---> Zygarde Complete Forme (when HP is at red) *Confirmed*

This would technically make sense as both Zygarde 10% and 50% Forme both have Swarm Change as their ability now. If so, I expect people to use Zygarde 50% Forme mostly with Defense/Offense oriented focus so it has a better chance to go into Complete Forme.
 
Oh wow, that's a bit much.
I really wanted them to slow down with reveals, but seems like they're speeding up instead. Let's hope this means there is like 150 new Pokémon? I didn't like how we have basically ALL new Pokémon revealed up to XY-release, combined with the low number in general leaving everyone with a reaction of "wait, that's all?", when we expected there to be about half of the new Pokemon still unrevealed...

This, so much this. I hope we don't get completely spoiled like last time around, and that this gen's Dex update is huge. Man, the better these Pokémon designs get, the more I debate wheter I should stop getting spoiled until release so I can discover them by myself.

And no, Game Freak, Megas don't count as new Pokémon, stop pretending they do.
 
I wonder if Togedemaru is the Pokemon that Yungoos was brought to stop... It would be interesting if that was the case.
 
Charjabug looks like a micro/mini bus pokemon.

I'm still waiting for a Gorilla, Dolphin, Musk Oxen/Yak and Kingfisher pokemon. Where are you?

Hopefully some of them turn up in gen 8.
 
Cutiefly is absolutely adorable - I hope it has some usable (and cute) evolutions.

Vikavolt looks to be another usable bug type, given the levels shown in the video & the amount of damage it does with a Sp Attack move to the high HP & Sp Defense Milotic (thank Arceus - we really need more bug types that are good late-game). It certainly has a very cool design to it, too, and I like the creativity of making it look both like real beetles & like things related to electricity.

I really like Drampa's design, and it's type is kind of interesting (not that changes much compared to a plain Dragon type - one new weakness to Fighting & one new immunity to Ghost), but I hope it has evolutions or pre-evolutions. I just think that an evolution line of some sort would best fit the design - but then again, I think the same way about Druddigon too, and they failed me there. :p

Togedemaru is cute, but looks too much like Dedenne, doesn't hold a candle to the Magnezone line if it can't evolve (which it probably won't given the trend with these Pichu-lites), and has way too long & complicated of a name. Cute, but a lot of problems IMO.

The design of Bruxish is awesome in that Game Freak did an amazing job in making it look absolutely horrendously ugly. Seriously, it's the ugliest Pokemon I can think of (the other "ugly fish" - Feebas, Basculin, & Relicanth namely - I really like the looks of). It's so awful looking that I actually love the design. Round of applause, GF - you deserve it. Still won't use the thing, ability or not, without a nicer looking evolution, though. ;)

Tapu Koko... is omgsoamazing. I love how it hides its body within a "mask" - reminds me a lot of native masks here in the Pacific Northwest that looked like the head of an animal, but opened up to reveal a human face (like the mask believed to be the inspiration for the Seattle Seahawks logo). It's an awesome idea, and I love how they utilized it. And the design! The colors!! The type!!! The ability!!!! So much to love. My new favorite (non-Rowlet - love me my owls) Gen VII Pokemon so far. <3
 
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