I remember my very first Pokemon game ( Pokemon Diamond ) with great fondness. One of the best things about playing Pokemon for the first time was discovering new Pokemon that I’d never seen before. I wasn’t tied into online gaming media yet at that point, so every species was shiny and new. “Whoa, is that a cherry Pokemon? Weird!” “It’s a crow with a fedora! That’s the coolest thing ever!”
I don’t think I’m alone in this. After all, making new discoveries and being surprised by the creativity of developers is one of the great joys of gaming. It used to be annoying because Pokemon games would come out in Japan months before they came out here, so you were bound to be spoiled ahead of time. Now that they’re released near-simultaneously around the world, that should be less of a problem for Pokemon Sun and Moon , right? Well, it would be, if The Pokemon Company wasn’t hell-bent on spoiling the entire Alola Pokedex for us ahead of time.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m seriously excited for the things we’re seeing about Pokemon Sun and Moon . Some of the new Pokemon are extremely cool, and I love all the new Alola Forms we’re seeing of old favorites. I just think enough is enough. Save some surprises for release! I mean, so far we’ve seen 38 new Pokemon and eight Alola Forms of old Pokemon (thanks, Serebii !), and we get a new crop of Pokemon announced every couple weeks or so. The game comes out in November, so at this rate, most of the new Pokedex will be spoiled for us before release, and all through official channels.
At least when things are unofficially leaked before a game’s release, it’s not too hard to avoid them. Stay off the fansites for a bit, frequent forums that enforce spoiler tags, maybe manage your social media feeds a bit. Most people tend to be pretty respectful about unofficial leaks. But when something is officially announced by a developer, it turns up all over the place. After all, it’s not really a spoiler if the developer shows it to you ahead of time, right? If you’re even a bit into Pokemon , you probably read game sites or follow the Pokemon Twitter or Facebook account. That means you’re going to see most of the announced ‘mon before November, and that’s a shame.
So enough is enough, Pokemon Company! Stop trotting out the entire cast and crew of Alola before release! Save some surprises to thrill and delight fans when they get their very own hands on a copy of Pokemon Sun or Moon (or both, I won’t judge). The thrill of discovery is one of the best parts of Pokemon , and you’re spoiling it for all of us.