Once again, thanks to CoroCoro Magazine and Seribii, we have some more information about the upcoming Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire remakes. Though whereas some of these announcements are awesome, others have us scratching out heads.

Mega Altaria – The Union of Mortal Enemies:

Whether part Flying, Ground, Rock or Grass (like Mega Sceptile), it seems more and more Dragon type Pokemon have the crippling x4 weakness to Ice. The Generation III Altaria was no exception; but now through Mega Evolution it has overcome this x4 weakness by partnering with the mortal enemy of Dragons – Fairy types.

Now if you’ve been following my Pokemon updates/reviews, you already know my feelings about the X/Y addition of fairy types. When Dark and Steel were introduced in Gen II it made sense, but to add a new type six generations in seems a bit strange. Though what really is strange is how Fairy type Pokemon are completely immune to Dragon types. Call me old fashioned; but if a level 70 Dragonite uses Outrage on a lvl 5 Clefairy, that Clefairy is toast.

Though despite my personal feelings on Fairy types; Mega Altaria’s dual typing of Dragon/Fairy looks to be just as powerful as it is rare. As a Dragon type, Altaria is pretty hearty as it is, but Flying always opened it up to some horrible weaknesses (Rock, Electric). Though now that it’s assumed the Fairy type, Altaria’s weakness to Ice is a manageable x2 and it’s weakness to other Dragons is completely gone. In fact, thanks to the Fairy typing, it’s now immune to Dragon type attacks. According to Bulbapedia, Mega Altaria will still have a weakness to Fairies, which doesn’t really make sense.

As for STATS, we have nothing confirmed; but Altaria always had great defensive capabilities. So expect that to get even more beastly as this Mega Evolution surrounds Altaria even more in an absorbent mist of clouds. On offensive sides, Mega Altaria’s new ability will be Pixelate, which changes all Normal attacks into Fairy type attacks. Since Altaria doesn’t have many Fairy type attacks, Pixelate will give it many more chances to get the valuable Same Attack Type Bonus (STAB). Imagine a Fairy type powered Hyper Beam. Mega Altaria will truly become the scourge of Dragon Pokemon.

Mega Salamence – Strike Hard, Strike Fast:

The other new Dragon type Mega Evolution is of course another Gen III Pokemon, Salamence. Salamence is already a powerhouse, so a Mega Evolution for him will just increase his threat level. His typing is most likely to stay Dragon/Flying, which will give him that dreaded x4 weakness to Ice. Though that might not be too much of a problem given his Stats.

We don’t know much about his Stats just yet; but based on the design I think it’s a safe bet that his Speed will drastically increase. We can also assume that his defensive abilities will drop even further as his offense goes up. This would make him an excellent quick hitter – hopefully fast enough to do serious damage to a Protean empowered Greninja.

Though I personally can’t get over his design. His wings have become much bigger apparently at the expense of a pair of legs. Though upon closer inspection, you can actually see Salamence’s forelimbs tucked into the front of his now jetpack-like shell design. Sadly, the damage is already done as Salamence looks someone strapped a boomerang to his back side. I wonder if a Pokemon used Seismic Toss on Mega Salamence, would Mega Salamence fly right back to it?

As for his ability, Salamence will get Aerilate, which changes all Normal type moves into Flying type. Like with Mega Altaria’s Pixelate, Mega Salamence’s Aerilate will give it a much wider STAB range. Salamence only learns Fly on it’s own, so Aerilate could prove interesting by giving an added edge to a Double Edge attack.

Mega Lopbunny – Totally Random:

With Pokemon Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby being Gen III remakes, you would assume that most Mega Evolutions would be Gen III centered; and they have been (ie: Sabeleye, Metagross, Salamence, Swampert, Altaria, etc). Now whereas some later generation Pokemon can be expected too (ie: Diancie), they’ve all been for relatively powerful and already versatile Pokemon. So why Lopbunny.

Yes the Pokemon originally famous for trying to be too sexy is getting a Mega Evolution. With a new dual typing of Normal/Fighting, Mega Lopbunny will finally get some STAB for it’s more reliable Fighting type attacks. Add in it’s new ability Scrappy, which allows Normal and Fighting type moves to hit Ghost types, and it looks like Mega Lopbunny might finally get some support – that is IF it’s Stats get some serious help.

Lopbunny’s Stats are pretty low. Even it’s highest Stat, Speed, is mediocre at best. If Lopbunny is to become a serious contender it’ll have to increase it’s Speed further while also drastically increasing it’s Attack. Though maybe Mega Lopbunny’s real arena isn’t battles; but rather contests.

Pokemon Contests – Costume and Mega Mechanics:

Additional updates have been coming in for the return of Pokemon Contests as well. Now there will be an Excite Meter in contests that when full will allow participants to Mega Evolve to further their appeal. Though just as battle mechanics like Mega Evolution can be used in contests, Pikachus Cosplay costumes can be used in battle too; and each comes with it’s own special attacks.

Pikachu Ph D – Electric Terrain
Pikachu Belle – Icicle Crash
Pikachu Rock Star – Meteor Mash
Pikachu Pop Star – Draining Kiss
Pikachu Libre – Flying Press

Contests will also feature an Idol named Lucia, who will give you different outfits depending on how you do in contests. It’s also been noted that she has an Altaria so this could mean she’ll be an eventual rival to test your skills against.

One final thing to note about contests is that Feebas – the original annoying/random-to-evolve-Pokemon – will have it’s evolutionary requirement changed back to something similar to it’s initial prerequisite High Beauty.

Early Event Pokemon:

When Pokemon X/Y was released, those who got it early were given a special event Torchic holding it’s Mega Stone. It seems like the same might happen again with Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby, though this time it’ll be a Shiny Beldum. Hopefully it’ll get a great new ability as well.