Instead, the additions I appreciated the most were subtle, quality of life details. Pokémon now warns you when you’re about to aggro an NPC into battle. Instead of being useless permanent moves, HMs have been replaced with “charges” that let you call a Pokémon to aid you with stuff like surfing and flying. If your buddy gets a status ailment during battle, instead of wasting an item you can just perform some battle aftercare to treat their illness. While none of these inclusions are revolutionary, they work together to bolster the solid battle mechanics.

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While the systems at the heart of Pokémon are largely familiar, Sun and Moon spark plenty of intrigue. After finding an unknown monster from a different dimension, you set out to find out more about where it hails from. This is how Sun and Moon introduce the stark and mysterious ultra beasts, whose motives and even nature—are they Pokémon?—are unclear. Sun and Moon are the rare Pokémon games where I cared about uncovering the story, and I say this despite the simplistic and mawkish writing.

On a smaller scale, I always felt motivated to discover more Pokémon, curious to see if any of my favorites had been revamped. Alolan forms such as Dugtrio with long, luscious hair, or an Exeggutor with a hilariously long neck show Game Freak clearly having fun with Pokémon designs. The fully-new Alola-exclusive Pokémon are also well-designed. Creatures like haunted sandcastles and toucan-inspired Pokémon take Alola’s setting seriously, but few got me excited in the same way the regional variants did. I caught myself keeping teams of mostly old Pokémon until I made an effort to focus on the new cadre. To Alola’s credit, I’ve learned to love them, too. Shout out to Rockruff and Bewear, two Pokémon that are cuter than they have any right to be. I’ve spent more time than I care to admit trying to engineer a team that’s both competent and awesome.

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Earlier this year, I spoke to lead Pokémon developer Junichi Masuda about the legacy of Red and Blue, and asked him whether or not Game Freak felt pressure to cater to fans who believe the originals are the apex of the series. Masuda laughed, acknowledged the tension, and told me that of course he didn’t want to disappoint anyone, regardless of whether it was a newbie or veteran. “We want to live up to the expectations of the fans,” Masuda said. At the time it seemed like an obligatory answer, but after playing through Sun and Moon, I see that it was not just an idle response. Sun and Moon pull off a delicate juggling act.

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For 20 years now, Pokémon games have presented fantasies where people live, battle, and grow alongside powerful monsters. In Pokémon Sun and Moon, that wistful reverie invites you take a holiday, leave your worries behind, and grab yourself a lei. As it happens with all good vacations, Pokémon found itself again.