Pokemon Direct Recap

At the time of this writing, the Pokemon Direct, held at 7:00 a. m. ET (4:00 a. m. PT) has just concluded. There was some very interesting information revealed during the stream, and I would like to share with you a quick summary of what was announced. 

Pokemon Bank
Realizing the fact that many players "put their hearts" into training their Pokemon, the Pokemon company, and Nintendo, decided that they could better improve customer relationships by providing a service that allows players to store their Pokemon in the cloud. And that is exactly what Pokemon Bank accomplishes. It will be a downloadable tool that allows players to store their Pokemon on the internet, then download them as needed. 

In-game, players can only store a limited amount of Pokemon. But with Pokemon Bank, players can store a total of three thousand (3,000) Pokemon. So, if you are the type that loves to catch Pokemon, such as myself, or train many Pokemon for competitions, this will be the service for you. 

This however, will not be a free service. Due to the fact that this service will operate for a very long time, there will an annual fee for using the service. 

Poke Transfer
As an add-on to Pokemon Bank, Poke Transfer makes it easy to transfer your Pokemon from Pokemon Black, Pokemon White, Pokemon Black 2, and Pokemon White 2. When a player has their copy of Pokemon from Pokemon Black, Pokemon White, Pokemon Black 2, and Pokemon White 2 inserted into the game slot of their Nintendo 3DS system, they will be able to transfer their Pokemon to the Pokemon Bank service, and then download them into Pokemon X and/or Pokemon Y version as needed. 

Starters
In previous games, players were given the opportunity to select one of three Pokemon in the beginning of each game. In Pokemon X and Pokemon Y, however, players will not just have the option of selecting one of the three starters from the region. They will also have the opportunity to select one starter from the Kanto region - Squirtle, Bulbasour, and Charmander. These Pokemon all have Mega Evolution capabilities. 

Mega Evolution
Earlier this year, it was revealed that a new feature, called Mega Evolution, would included in the game. Well, today, more information was revealed with regards to this topic. 

The Pokemon Trainer will be wearing a special item called a Mega Ring. The connection between the Pokemon's held Mega Stone and the Mega Ring, influenced by the connection between the the player and the Pokemon, will initiate the mega evolution. Once in this form, Pokemon will have access to special abilities and be able to harness significantly greater power. 

Pokemon X and Pokemon Y-Themed Nintendo 3DS XL Systems
Earlier, it was revealed that a Pokemon X and Pokemon Y-themed blue Nintendo 3DS XL would be made available in Japan. Today, it was announced that the same system (a blue Pokemon X and Pokemon Y-themed 3DS XL) will be made available in North America. In addition, a red variant will also be made available. 

These systems will be released in the 27th of September. 

Well, that pretty much covers what was announced. I hope everyone found this post to be very informative, if you missed the stream. Remember, Nintendo always releases a recorded version of the event soon after it was hosted. So, if you would like to see it for yourself, keep a sharp eye out for it.