The brand new trailer for Pokémon Sun & Moon this morning has revealed new island guardians for the islands of Alola. Much like Tapu Koko, these Pokémon are the watchful protectors of their respective islands.
First up is Tapu Lele, the Psychic/Fairy-type guardian of Akala Island. Tapu Lele scatters its scales to stimulate and heal other Pokémon and people. These glowing scales can also have a negative effect though, as the bodies of scale recipients can’t handle the changes brought about by touching too many scales at once. Tapu Lele enjoys scattering its scales, and will do so without regard to the negative effect that its scales can bring.
Tapu Lele is very skilled at making sure it doesn’t lose a battle, even if it doesn’t mean actually beating an opponent. It does this by using strategies that inflict status conditions on opponents. Its Ability in battle is Psychic Surge, which turns the battlefield into Psychic Terrain when it appears, which boosts the power of Psychic attacks and prevents Pokémon from being hit by priority moves.
The guardian of Ula’ula Island is Tapu Bulu, a Grass/Fairy Pokémon that resembles a bull. Tapu Bulu can use its powers to manipulate vegetation; this includes its own horns, which are made of wood. Despite appearances Tapu Bulu doesn’t like to start fights or startle others. For this reason, it will alert others to its presence by making a loud ringing noise with its tail as it approaches.
Just because it doesn’t like to start fights, doesn’t mean Tapu Bulu will stand down from one. It will show no mercy to those it sees as an evildoer, and legend says that it will swing trees around like massive clubs to punish those who break into its ruins. Tapu Bulu’s Battle Ability is Grassy Surge, which turns the battlefield into Grassy Terrain, which boosts the power of Grass-type moves, and heals damage to Grass-type Pokémon each turn. It will also half the damage of moves like Earthquake, Magnitude, and Bulldoze.
Poni Island’s protector is The Water/Fairy-type Tapu Fini. Tapu Fini is able to create a special, purifying water that can purify both body and mind. It’s very picky about who has access to this water though, only allowing those who pursue it to have it if they can withstand Tapu Fini’s fog. Despite this, people with evil intentions have still pursued the water, causing Tapu Fini to have a distaste for appearing to humans.
Tapu Fini fights with water, manipulating it to its advantage. It hates to risk harm to itself, however, so it creates a fog that puts opponents into a trance in hopes that they will destroy themselves. Tapu Fini’s Ability is Misty Surge, which halves the damage taken from Dragon-type moves and prevents status conditions and confusion.
All of the Tapus share two signature moves– the first is Nature’s Madness, which slams an opponent with all of nature’s rage and reduces the target’s HP by half. The other is a special Z Move exclusive to them; Guardian of Alola brings a giant body to the battlefield, with the Tapu acting as a head. The body then slams down its massive fist on the opponent in a terrifying display of power.
With all of these Tapus being introduced, that brings the total amount of known Island Deities to four, will there be more deities to encounter in Alola? Preorder Pokémon Sun & Moon in order to find out on November 18th!
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Written by Jaxson Tapp
As a lover of gaming and the written word, Jaxson currently fills his time not only with playing games, but also writing about them. Ready for anything, Jaxson’s passion for puzzle games, JRPGs, tough platformers, and whimsical indies helps him bring a well-rounded opinion to Nintendo Wire’s reporting.
