Tsunekazu Ishihara, President And Chief Executive Officer Of The Pokemon Company And Producer Of Pokemon, Introduces The New 'Pokemon Art Academy' Game During A News Conference At The 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo, Known As E3, In Los Angeles
IN PHOTO: Last year, one of the biggest wishes of numerous “Pokemon” fans were granted. Tsunekazu Ishihara, president and chief executive officer of The Pokemon Company and producer of Pokemon, introduces the new "Pokemon Art Academy" game during a news conference at the 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo, known as E3, in Los Angeles, California June 11, 2014. REUTERS/Kevork Djansezian

Last year, one of the biggest wishes of numerous “Pokemon” fans were granted. The “Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire” came out as the much-anticipated Hoenn remake.

But for this year, developer Game Freak has its sights set on another title, one that has a very different vibe and feel from the cuddly world of “Pokemon.” Dubbed “Tembo the Badass Elephant,” this new title is reportedly set to come out in Q2 of this year.

In an interview with IGN, Game Freak revealed that the new title has already been in development for six months. It came together as a result of the idea of James Turner, director and character designer for Game Freak. In a nutshell, the plot involves an Asian elephant named Tembo who was assigned a mission by his military general of a best friend.

If that’s not dubiously unique enough, Tembo is more than just a side-scroller platform. It takes on a comic-book approach so some backstory is to be expected from the game. “Tembo the Badass Elephant” also goes for unique in terms of how it makes use of the character.

According to the source, the developer went away from the usual punch-throwing. As an elephant, Tembo can use his trunk to suck water from a fire extinguisher and throw uppercuts.

Eurogamer adds that “Tembo the Badass Elephant” will be published by Sega. It will be available as a digital download come summer on the PS4, Xbox One and PC. Ironically, it won’t be coming to the Nintendo consoles, when Game Freak has been the developer for the entire “Pokemon” game franchise since “Pokemon Red and Blue.”

As far as the next “Pokemon” title is concerned, however, Game Freak has not yet confirmed any plans on what it will be working on. Still, fans can do a lot more with last year’s “Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.”

A new Battle Competition has been announced via the trusted Pokemon source Serebii. Titled “Enter the Dragon Type, the new Battle Competition for “Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire” is a Double Battle specifically for the two games. As per the rules, players will need to have at least one Dragon-type Pokemon in the team.

Players can also have as many as two of the special Pokemon: Arceus, Celebi, Darkrai, Deoxys, Dialga, Diancie, Genesect, Giratina, Groudon, Ho-Oh, Jirachi, Keldeo, Kyogre, Kyurem, Lugia, Manaphy, Meloetta, Mew, Mewtwo, Palkia, Phione, Rayquaza, Reshiram, Shaymin, Victini, Xerneas, Yveltal, Zekrom and Zygarde.

The registration for the Enter the Dragon Type Battle Competition will be ongoing until March 20. The actual competition will last for four days from March 20 to 23. All the participants will get the Level 10 Amaura as a special gift for entering the competition. It features the Snow Warning Hidden Ability and Growl, Magnet Rise, Powder Snow and Rock Throw moves.

Have feedback or game tips? Leave a message at g.galang@ibtimes.com.au

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