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Does Lycanroc Dusk Form Hint At Gameplay Changes For ‘Pokemon Ultra Sun/ Moon’?

This week we got some new info on the upcoming Pokemon Games and…. wait a second… Holy Ho-Oh! There’s a New Pokemon Game coming this Fall? How do we keep forgetting this?

Well when Nintendo announced this two months ago, it pretty much took everyone by surprise – and not in the good way. Whereas Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon are “new titles” it’s still unclear how NEW the games will be. Will the games be a sequel to Sun & Moon like Black & White 2? Perhaps. Were Sun & Moon actually glorified ‘betas’ and these will be the FULL games? Considering all the empty spaces in Sun & Moon, likely! Either way, whether you found the pre-E3 Nintendo Direct press conference surprising or disappointing, it’s hard to remember these games are actually coming in a few short months considering the lack of details.

Well hopefully that is all about to change because we FINALLY got some word on the new titles! Now it might just be a “new form” of an existing Pokemon, but it MIGHT actually hint at a much bigger change to gameplay. So let’s start with what we know for certain.

Lycanroc Dusk Form:

We might not know about Lycanroc’s Dusk Form’s stat spread or ability, but we can discern some things from it’s look. As you’d imagine, since Dusk is the midway point between Midday and Midnight, it makes sense that Dusk form is stylistically the midway point between Lycanroc’s Midday and Midnight form. Its body is still VERY much that of the Midday form. In fact, it’s almost identical, except for the added fur sprouting from the back of its mane as well as the pointed fur/horn at the front of its head – both qualities of is Midnight form. Additionally, it’s orange fur color serves as a nice midway between Midday’s tan fur and Midnight’s crimson fur – as well as a nice reference to the orange hues of the setting sun.

Does Lycanroc Dusk Form Hint At Gameplay Changes For 'Pokemon Ultra Sun/ Moon'?

Though we have to wonder, if there’s a Dusk form, will there also be a Dawn form? Following this ‘midway’ logic, it wouldn’t be too different as Dusk form truly is the perfect fusion between the two. The only difference we could expect would be it standing on its hind legs, but that’s hardly enough of a difference to call for a whole new form. Though whether we get one new form or two, these forms do raise a question about it’s evolution.

Further Expanded Day/ Night Cycle?

Since Gen 2, Pokemon games have used the Day and Night cycle. When Pokemon Gold and Silver first came out, it was HUGE! Seriously! New Pokemon were great, breeding was fun, but the Day/ Night cycle was something that completely changed the mechanics of Pokemon as some Pokemon could only be found, evolve, or use certain attacks based on what time of day it was. This has continued till today and steadily improved. There were morning and evening portions occasionally, but they mainly served as transitionary segments that lasted anywhere from a few seconds to minutes. Beyond the incredibly short duration, these times of day rarely had any significant signifiers. For example, Gen 4 gave morning a pale blue overworld feature but that was about it. Gen 7 gave some locations a slightly different music track, but again that was based on purely Night or Day.

Full details on Lycanroc’s Dusk form will be released later this week as the Pokemon appears for the first time in the anime, but judging by the episode trailer – and name of the form – it’s pretty certain that this form is achieved by evolving at dusk. This would mean that even the minor times of day would begin to have greater importance in the upcoming titles. And considering this continued generation is actually named after ‘times of day’, this would be the gen to do it.  Additionally, much like how Gen 4 used a light blue filter to signify morning, Ultra Sun/ Moon could use an orange filter for dusk. It’s unclear what other repercussions this advanced time cycle could have, but as past gens sometimes played around with NPC locations and Pokemon spawns, it can be assumed that dusk would bring about a few more significant changes in gameplay as well.

But what do you think? Do you think Dusk will bring a significant change to Pokemon game mechanics? Will Lycanroc get a Morning form next? Does this news make Ultra Sun/ Moon seem even more like useless/ nothing has changed sequels? Sound off in the comments and let us know!