‘Pokemon Sun’ And ‘Moon’: Running Pokemon Animations Found In Code, A Long-Awaited Feature Coming To Nintendo Switch


Game Xplain reported that running and walking animations for every single Pokemon have just been found in Pokemon Sun and Moon, which is absolutely huge news for Pokemon fans everywhere.

As the Inquisitr previously reported, Pokemon Sun and Moon data miners were hard at work digging into the code of the games and finding out their features over a week before the game even came out. Since the games were released on November 18, however, there has been no new information found. Until now, that is.

One of the Pokemon fanbase’s most requested features to be included in a new game is that of the Pokemon walking behind the player character in the overworld. It actually was available in several earlier generation Pokemon games, and Pokemon fans have been saying ever since that seeing the first Pokemon in your party walking with the character throughout the journey really helped establish a connection and even a bond with the creatures. Ever since Pokemon Gold and Silver came out in 2002, though, no all-new Pokemon installments (remakes of older games do not count) have seen the feature return.

Just hours ago, however, the same data miners responsible for leaking the entirety of Pokemon Sun and Moon before their official debut stumbled across something shocking: models of both walking and running sprites for every Pokemon. That’s right, all 801 of them, plus all the variants of those Pokemon.

The models found are primitive, low-poly versions that will doubtless be polished up before being included in any game, but, due to the sheer number of Pokemon and the fact that the games are now in 3D, meaning that the Pokemon need to be modeled at every angle, it is still a lot of data. As the Game Xplain video covering the discovery notes, Pokemon Sun and Moon already experience noticeable frame drops on the Nintendo 3DS (especially the older model) during the game’s more processing-intensive segments; it seems extremely unlikely that the people behind the Pokemon games would include this hugely demanding new feature to push the machine even further.

Instead of putting the “running Pokemon” feature into Pokemon Sun and Moon themselves, it seems very possible that its actual implementation will be saved for the next part of generation seven, whether it is a single enhanced remake of Pokemon Sun and Moon or a pair of sequels to the two games. And so that the processing power to support the new feature is readily available, the new game(s) will almost certainly be released on a more advanced system than the 3DS. This probably means the Nintendo Switch, a forthcoming Nintendo console/handheld gaming system that iDigitalTimes covers in more detail.

There have been a lot of rumors flying around for the past few weeks that the next generation seven Pokemon game, being referred to by fans as “Pokemon Stars,” will be moving the franchise onto the Switch, reports Screen Rant, but this new bit of evidence, courtesy of Pokemon data miners, may be the most substantial thing we have yet.

Considering the possibilities of a Pokemon game on a much more powerful system than even the new 3DS is very interesting in itself. The 3DS cartridge was almost filled up by Pokemon Sun or Moon (all those polished 3D graphics take up a lot of space), but a more powerful processor and much more space would mean a vast array of additional content could be included in the title(s). Could we be seeing additional Pokemon? After all, the Alola Pokedex is pretty small. How about multiple regions to explore? After all, points out The Inquisitr, that’s something Pokemon fans have been begging for, and also something that has not appeared since — speak of the devil — 2002’s Pokemon Gold and Silver. The possibilities are endless, and this new “running Pokemon” discovery shows us big things are coming to the Pokemon series.

What do you want to see? Make yourself heard in the comments below!

And as always, Train On, Pokemon fans.

[Featured Image by Pokemon]

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