Though Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire has been hogging the limelight, Pokemon X and Y are still in business; this was made clear by The Pokemon Company who have announced a new tournament - Battle of Legends Online Competition. Also, developers Game Freak discussed the progress of the game.
Battle of Legends Online Competition Announced
The Pokemon Company has announced a new tournament, where players will be able to assemble their dream team, in order to fight in Battle of Legends Online Competition. The eligibility was spelled out in the post on the official website. It noted that all Pokemon will be eligible for battle from Kantos to Kalos, including the Mythical Pokemons.
The competition will also feature Double Battles, and the only exception will be Diancie. It said that a Battle Box will include a maximum of two Legendary and Mythical Pokemon. During the duration of the battle, all Pokemon will be set to Level 50 and this will include even the ones that are above or below Level 50.
Registration: 17 July, 2014 00:00 UTC; Players will need Pokemon Trainer Club account and a copy of the Pokemon X or Pokemon Y video game. Read the rules and regulations here.
Progress of the Game Assessed by Developers
Junichi Masuda, director and Shigeki Morimoto, battle director of Game Freak in a post evinced interest in the game even after a period of eight months since the release of the game.
Masuda said that he was shocked to find out that most players just took three days to reach the Hall of Fame but for the developers it took three and a half years to create the game. He added that they could see the completion speed of players. Further fire was added when players received Pokemon Bank and Poke Transporter, since it allowed players to get their favorite Pokemon from previous games.
Morimoto added that change was brought about in the game's battle environment due to the inclusion of features like Mega Evolution and the Fairy type.
They also agreed that in Pokemon X and Y it was easier to raise Pokemon and this allowed players to enjoy the battles with wider variety of Pokemon.
Their advice also included tips on competitive battling. Battle Maison, a facility in Kiloude City has all kinds of battle formats so players can check the party formations and strength of their party. But this is against the computers so if players want to be better at competitive battling it's better to battle against other players.
Players should not be worrisome of winning or losing in the beginning and must rather concentrate on building a team on the Pokemon of their liking. Players have to think of counterstrategies when they lose and come up with all kinds of trial and error strategies to make it fun to play.
The developers suggested players use Pokemon Global Link as a reference point to know which Pokemon is popular and which is not. The stats provided there will be a lot of help to players. Each player must develop his/her own battle style and must be able to create new strategies for battling.
Also the ratings that players get can be used to match against another player of the similar rating. So when the season starts though most players will have same ratings, they can make difference by participating in competitive battles, said Masuda.
Morimoto revealed that among the staff, Pokemon like Talonflame, Kangaskhan, Noivern, Tyranitar, Greninja, and Meowstic were popular. But since many prefer different kinds, Pokemon like Banette or Barbaracle, Houndoom, Malamar and others were used.
When asked about changes made to overall battle variables, Masuda said, "the probability of landing a critical hit has not been changed from what it has previously been."
Though Morimoto said that Japanese trainers "tend to be strong," and Masuda added that thought there was no "definitive reason," it could be due to closer community among players in Japan. But he expects to see the gap between Japanese and international players to changing in the upcoming 2014 World Championships.
