Mega Evolution Not Returning In Sun and Moon?

The burning question on the minds of all pokemon fans at the moment is whether or not Mega Evolution will be returning in Sun and Moon. Here I mean to give all the facts that we have so far and try to glean some conclusion from it. 

Of all the trailers that have been shown for Sun and Moon, none have included mega stones, or mega pokemon. In fact nothing whatsoever has been mentioned about mega evolution in any official information. So this should give us pause, perhaps these games are taking place on the timeline where the ultimate weapon was never launched, perhaps mega evolution doesn’t exist in the world of Sun and Moon. Right out of the gate that seems unlikely, because this game will feature Zygarde very prominently in the plot, and Zygarde is heavily associated with the ultimate weapon and mega evolution. Also, to put this game on the other timeline would mean not allowing players to have mega pokemon, thus keeping the pokedex from being complete and the meta game from being significantly more challenging. So mega evolution must be returning, right? 

It actually isn’t as certain as we might’ve thought when Sun and Moon were announced. Here is why…

. Of all the main character artwork that has been shown to us so far, none of the characters (save maybe the protagonists) feature anything that could contain a key stone. Contrast this with how blatantly obvious it was for the Hoenn Elite Four Members, Maxie, Archie, and the protagonists of ORAS. 

. Incorporating Z moves necessarily means focusing more time and energy away from mega evolution, meaning that if it were in the game, it would be a secondary feature and have no plot points related to it.

. Alolan Forms seem to have taken the place of mega Evolution. Many pokemon ripe for a mega evolution are getting Alolan Forms.

. Ken Sugimori stated of the next pokemon games when XY came out, that they would feature “A reversion to simplicity” Mega evolution is a highly technical feature, and as was apparent from the E3 footage of Sun and Moon, the game is being made much more simple for children new to the franchise to understand, (what with the moves showing what is super effective and what not). Then there is the designs. I have stated repeatedly that the Alolan Pokemon designs are remarkably simple. Perhaps because the pokemon of Kanto had simple designs, but perhaps because the new forms that Sugimori and the others intended to design were to be reversions to simplicity, rather than a monstrosity mega evolution such as Mega Abomasnow. 

. Then there is the question of where the mega stones would go. This region, at least in theory is remarkably smaller than the others of Gen 6. Where are they going to hide some 47 already existing mega stones in this region? And that is to say nothing of new mega evolutions that have stones that need to be hidden. Perhaps the Stoutland Item Sniffing Feature is the solution to this, but that would mean that mega stones are just sitting in the ground with no sparkles or anything, and that just seems sort of underwhelming. 

. The only real point in favor of Mega Evolution's inclusion in the game is the fact that the Player’s Z bracelet does feature a circle on the opposite side which could be for a key stone.

All things considered, the conclusion I would draw from this is that Mega evolution will return in Sun and Moon, but it will not be a prominent feature such as in Gen 6. It will be more of an afterthought, something to do in the post game, and no new mega evolutions will be introduced. As much as it pains me to predict it, and as much as I hope I am wrong, this seems to be where the evidence points. We have three months worth of reveals left before the release of the game, and any word of mega evolution has been absent from the discussion. What do you think? Will Mega Evolution Return? Why or Why not?