On February 26, 2016, on the eve of the twentieth anniversary of Pokémon Red and Green in Japan, The Pokémon Company announced two new games: Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon. Nine months later, the seventh generation took millions of players to Alola.

🎂An anniversary

The announcement came during a Pokémon Direct devoted to the series’ twentieth anniversary. The next day, Red, Blue and Yellow returned on the 3DS Virtual Console. The symbolism is clear: Sun and Moon were meant both to celebrate Kanto’s legacy and to shake it up. The Alolan forms, reimagined Pokémon from the first generation, are the perfect illustration of this double movement.

🏝️Heading for Hawaii

For the first time, the region is a tropical archipelago, inspired by Hawaii. Alola’s four main islands correspond to Oahu, Maui, Hawaii and Kauai, and their names echo Hawaiian colors. The word “Alola” itself comes from “aloha”, the Hawaiian greeting. The development team traveled there to soak up the landscapes and culture of the islands.

The game was directed by Shigeru Ohmori, for whom this is the first direction of a main series entry, with Junichi Masuda as producer. It is also the first in the series to be translated into Chinese, both traditional and simplified.

🎮A demo and a Greninja

In October 2016, a special demo was made available for download. It lets you visit Hau’oli City and discover Z-Moves, and above all transfer an exceptional Pokémon into the full game: Ash’s Greninja, with its Battle Bond Ability.

📅The release

Pokémon Sun and Moon were released on November 18, 2016 in Japan and North America, and on November 23, 2016 in Europe. Sales started very strongly: the pair is one of the biggest successes of the Nintendo 3DS.

🌌What the seventh generation left behind

  • Regional forms, picked up again in Galar, Hisui and Paldea.
  • The end of HMs, in favor of Poké Ride, then even freer movement in later games.
  • Display of move effectiveness in battle, which became the norm.
  • Ultra Beasts, which return in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon and then in other games of the series.

A year later, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon revisit Alola. See Sun and Moon or Ultra?.