New Gameplay Elements
The Battle Frontier makes its triumphant return from Pokémon Emerald! An expansion of the Fight Area to the north of Sinnoh, the Frontier will feature five separate battle facilities, where trainers can fight Pokémon battles with various customizable rules, earn Battle Points (BP), and exchange them for prizes.
The Global Trade Station (GTS) in Jubilife City features a new Global Terminal, which enables trainers to exchange Pokémon exclusively within his inner circle of friends. In addition, a new item called the Battle Recorder can be used to record battle replays to share with the world.
In the basement of each Pokémon Center, players who have Wi-Fi communications enabled can gather to play in Wi-Fi Square, a special area with minigames such as a Swalot poffin-making machine. Some games can support up to 20 trainers playing simultaneously.
The Story
Pokémon Diamond centered around Dialga, the ruler of time, while Pearl centered around Palkia, the ruler of space. In this installment, Giratina is the key to the story. A mysterious portal has opened atop Sinnoh’s Mt. Coronet, serving as the entrance to the Ruined World, an alternate dimension warping time and space. A story of “epic proportions” unfolds with Sinnoh in center stage!
Once again, Team Galactic is up to no good. Strange things are happening all over Sinnoh. An Interpol member is chasing after the evil organization, which has added a new purple-haired member to its ranks.
The Trainers
Lucas and Dawn are now sporting new outfits in response to Sinnoh’s colder weather, which was triggered by the disturbance atop Mt. Coronet. They are sporting new Pokétchs, too. The rival will help out the protagonists in this installment.
While the three starters have remained the same, at least two Pokémon–Giratina and Shaymin–have been given alternative formes, just like Deoxy’s attack, defense, and speed forms from the previous generation.