May 12, 2010

Keep in mind before reading this post, we currently have no method of validating this scan. While there is a solid chance this is very legit, take it all with a slight grain of salt. Question marks will indicate the more "iffy" portions of this article.

In what was honestly just seconds ago, the first page of CoroCoro's May 15th editon has leaked. Information is currently coming from the Japanese image board 2ch. As promised, it shows us what the starters for Pokémon Black and White will be. On top of that, there is other information, including art of the protagonists and the region. We'll be updating this post continuously, as there is still information out there to be found.

• New Region: Isshu.
• "Isshu" is "far away". To reach it, boats, planes, and other methods of transportation are required.
• Protagonists, shown on the bottom of the left page, are "no longer children", and a good deal older.
• Both protagonists have a watch of some sort on their wrist- this generation's PokéNav/PokéGear/Pokétch?
• From left to right, the grass starter is "Tsutaaja", the fire is "Pokabu", then a Water-type, "Mijumaru".
• According to Pokébeach, the origin of the names are as follows; "Tsuta" means "ivy", "Bu" is pig, and "Maru" is both "round" or "ball". Credit goes to Pokébeach for that discovery/translation.
• Zoroark has a new ability, Illusion (イリュージョン) which allows it to transform into its opponent. The actual mechanics are still shrouded in mystery but along with that, when the Movie 13 Promo legendary Johto trio are traded (one or all is unconfirmed) over you will be able to battle a level 25 Zoroark. Zoroark will transform into its opponent and only be catchable when it reverts to its original form. The timing for this reversion is unknown but presumed to be when weak.
• New attack: Trickery (イカサマ) - damage depends on opponent's stats.
• New attack: Claw Sharpen (つめとぎ) - boosts Accuracy and Attack stats.
• Zoroark can learn both of the above moves.
• City name? Hiun City is said to be depicted in the first scan. It appears to be the city that we have seen in the recent weeks, including in the first video of the game. Art of it can be seen in the middle of the left page.

That's what we currently "know". Neither of these scans contain information of the starter names. Before the first scan leaked, certain individuals on 2ch posted bits of information that have now appeared in these two scans. This includes the female protagonist having ripped shorts, the region name, and other things. As stated, these predictions have been confirmed by the two available scans of CoroCoro. As such, though they're noted as unconfirmed with the '(?)', it's a safe bet to say it's all true.There is a video you can watch that has a long, empty portion that is reserved for annotation updates.

Update @ 11:00PM GMT-8

And a person on 2ch has taken pictures of the rest of the CoroCoro pages with his camera! While the images are not the clearest things on Earth, it's better to have them than to not. All of the information above has been confirmed with these scans from the starter names to the Zoroark event, so the question marks have been removed. Hiun City is stated to play a large role in the Isshu region, as the central hub/city.

In these images, we finally see the HP/EXP bar in battle, which has received a revamp in the looks department, but no other major changes are visible. The text bubbles are now black and translucent in battle. Then we see the protagonist within Hiun City's alleys, and it looks as if it's a busy place with a special vendor that has attracted a line of costumers- anything special there? Underneath that alley screen is another one, that is darker and features what appears to be dark clothed NPCs.

The camera angle seems to change continuously throughout the game's different areas, as these CoroCoro images all together brilliantly show off. Each of the starters are shown using moves that look fairly familiar. For example, the Grass starter Tsutaaja appears to be using Razor Leaf, and the Water starter Mijumaru is probably using Water Pulse. Battle field graphics emulate those seen in HGSS, with obvious new move graphics. The shadows that fall below your Pokémon's feet have no doubt been improved, and in general the areas look more polished than before, including the protagonist sprites. What have you noticed?

Zoroark's special ability and battle is shown. It goes from taking the appearance of Entei (against a Raikou), then after being struck by Aura Sphere, it transforms back to Zoroark, it's only catchable state. It's almost impossible to deduce anything based on what is shown, and in fact we only get more questions. Are all three trio members required to fight Zoroark? Since it started off taking the appearance of Entei, and it's ability is taking the form of it's opponent, we are lead to believe that Entei was in battle before Raikou.

And with that question, we can lay these busy two days to rest in this one gigantic post. We've learned a decent amount, and seen even more. Pokémon Sunday will also be revealing the three starter Pokémon this weekend, and hopefully will have more to show as well. We can also expect the official site for Black and White with high quality art and information on the region sooner than later. Perhaps as early as next week. Until then...