Getting Close with Pokémon
By the way, what does the "Amie" in Pokémon-Amie mean?
"Amie" means "friend" in French.
You enjoy making friends with your Pokémon?
Yes. And as shown before, if you play Pokémon-Amie, you get really close with your Pokémon, but after all they are Pokémon, so some don't have facial expressions or they react slowly.
For example, how do you handle a Pokémon like Snorlax who's always sleeping?
Times like that, you do this (gesturing as if striking the screen with the stylus) with all you've got. You wake them up! (laughs)
(laughs)
Each Pokémon has its own unique features and traits, so we incorporated a lot with regard to that into the game.
Unique for each and every Pokémon?
Yes. We made it so the reactions are different for all the Pokémon.
Wow! That's surprising! (laughs)
(laughs)
I suppose if your favorite Pokémon wasn't distinctive when others were, it would be disappointing.
Yes. And everyone has their own feelings about what their favorite Pokémon are like, right? So we did our best to make them respond to that kind of affection.
A single Pokémon game has always possessed considerable volume, but it's like a whole new game has been added!
I suppose! (laughs)
However, Pokémon-Amie isn't a completely separate feature. It connects to the main game, correct?
Yes. For example, if you're someone who prefers lavishing affection on your Pokémon as opposed to battles, and you bathe them in all your love, then it'll pay off in battle, too.
If you aren't great in battles but you play with them a lot, before you know it, they may be stronger in battle.
Yes. I touched on this earlier, but when you get close with your Pokémon, you'll get better at dodging your opponents' attacks and at hitting your opponents' weak points when you attack, so battles get really fun.
I get the impression that you couldn't have pulled off Pokémon X and Pokémon Y without pouring in an immense amount of energy. I'm really looking forward to seeing how the games are received around the world after release.
It's as if everyone in the staff worked really hard putting all their efforts in reflecting what each of them feel is the epitomical Pokémon world, and their work has been combined into a single, grand Pokémon world. I hope everyone enjoys it.
The two games Pokémon X and Pokémon Y, were games that we poured all our emotions into as they were being made as we focused on their release on October 12th. And finally, that day is almost here. And I think you can say that the Mega Evolution9 that we touched on earlier portrays everything that's new and old, so I really would like everyone to try to experience Mega Evolution for themselves. 9. Mega Evolution: Occurring only in battle, a type of evolution that goes one step further than a standard evolution. By Mega Evolution, the Pokémon will change drastically in appearance, and also its abilities, skills and types may change. Once the battle is over, the Pokémon will return to its previous form. For more details about Mega Evolution, be sure to check out the Pokémon Direct 9.04.2013 from around 12:47.
Thank you for your time today.
It was a pleasure!