2 new admin trainers… 2 rivals… 2 brand new stories… 2 Divine Beasts…. For the month of May, we’re way two excited to share all these great aspects of Pokémon Epsilon! Before we talk about these brand-new reveals, however, we wanted to take a minute to talk about a continual question the team has had to answer from time to time on Discord, Twitter, and Reddit.
As many fans of Pokémon Epsilon’s development team will know, a good chunk of the team was originally known for creating another game recently: Pokémon Insurgence; whether it was as a major developer, guest artist or as a helper to that project. As we moved our team’s focus to Epsilon, many people have been wondering whether some of the features or characters would be making a return, so we thought it would be wise to address these questions in an update to allow people to reference it later when these questions come up. With that said, here is a quick list of questions to help make sure we answer as many as possible.
1. Are Pokémon Insurgence and Pokémon Epsilon in the same universe or canon to each other? • No. Pokémon Insurgence is not canon to Pokémon Epsilon. This is because we wanted to have a fresh start to our game, and don’t want to rely on connections to Insurgence to create the game. This means that all characters and story elements are not canon to Epsilon, and will not be making a return from Insurgence to Epsilon.
2. Will there be any Insurgence Delta Pokémon, Armored Pokémon, or Mega Pokémon in Epsilon, or any other features? • No. Because Insurgence is not canon, this means that all of the created Pokémon are also not canon to our game, and as such we will be shifting our focus to making our own designs. This will allow our project to stand out on its own and be unique in its own way. This also includes any of the music from that game, and some of the other small features. There is a possibility some of the more unique features might be revamped and brought back, but there are no promises. You can also refer to last month’s update for why Deltas will not be in our game.
3. Will any references to Insurgence, Zeta/Omicron, or other fangames exist in Epsilon? • Yes, there will be some references to other games and universes scattered around the world, but they will simply be fun easter eggs and references in things like books, and are meant to be more comedic and entertaining to find than seriously considered canonical.
4. Is there any crossover with another fangame for Pokémon Epsilon? • At this time, Pokémon Epsilon is not doing a crossover with any other project. While this may change in the future, we don’t want to rely on crossing over with another project instead of simply focusing on our own story with our own characters instead. We hope you will instead appreciate our time spent on our own features and designs!
Now that these questions have been answered, let’s get to the real update!
Two months ago, we showed some of the designs for the new admins of Team Olympus and Team Asgard, and this month we’re showing one more from each team. This month in particular is interesting, because we will be focusing on two female admins together: Artemis from Team Olympus, and Freyja from Team Asgard!
Artemis is the apathetic twin sister to Apollo, the first admin we showed back in March. While she may seem uninterested in battle, her strategies are top notch, meant to take down her opponents as quickly and efficiently as possible. Artemis does have one major focus, however, and it’s the very reason she joined Team Olympus to begin with. She has an undying bond with her brother, staying by his side in most scenarios to help watch over and protect him no matter what. If you want to see Artemis really angry, all you have to do is hurt her brother Apollo.
Freyja was originally raised in Icaria City, eventually taking up her parent’s business and helping to run the Battle Café, where she spent most of her down time with friends. She is a very lively and friendly soul, keeping a calm smile on her face, even when facing her foes! Freyja became part of Team Asgard after many years of knowing the team’s leader, Odin. She wanted to remind him that life isn’t just about the doom and gloom. Despite this personality, many years in the Battle Café have taught Freyja more than enough to be a competent trainer, using a variety of strategies she’s learned by watching over battles before perfecting them in her own unique ways.
With these two admins now revealed, there are only two more faces from each team that are still hiding away. Keep an eye out on future Epsilon updates to see the rest of Team Olympus and Team Asgard!
Most Pokémon fangames wouldn’t be complete without a rival to push you forward and challenge you to hone your skills, so we decided to give you two. Way back in early 2017, one of the protagonist characters we revealed was Jake, the main rival from Zarivar Town, who will accompany you on your journey through Vesryn. Since that update, Jake may not have changed as much in looks, but he has certainly changed into a more fleshed out character, so we felt it was only natural to treat him as a new reveal. Alongside Jake however, a new rival will join your journey, with a much heavier focus on trying to understand the Origin form Pokémon after their sudden appearance in Vesryn! Without further ado, take a look at both Jake and the newest rival: Oliver!
Jake lived most of his life in Zarivar Town by his foster mother, Mrs. Tanner, who had raised him at the Trainer School there. When he was younger, Jake was part of the student body, and became an ace student under his mother. As he matured and grew older, he became a mentor and role model for the younger students at the school, showing them most of the tips to battling and raising Pokémon that he had learned. He has a very cocky and confident demeanor to himself, always looking for a new challenge to test his ability, while also looking for any way to make the younger kids see him as a true role model. With Arceus’s arrival and the rise of Team Olympus and Asgard, Jake will be one of the first to grab his bag and race out to prove his place as the hero of Vesryn to his “family” at the Zarivar Trainer School.
Oliver has been the assistant to Professor Arbutus ever since she first moved to Zarivar Town, having grown a bond with her even in his earlier days when speaking was more than just a challenge for him. Nowadays he’s an energetic and eager person, always seeking to strike new conversation and learn new things from anybody and anything he can. He hopes to one day become a scientist or even a Pokémon Professor himself, but until that day he’ll continue to help out with Arbutus at the lab. While his battling is not as strong as other trainers, his determination will always push him towards getting better, if only so he can make his next big discovery! Oliver will be one of many friendly faces to help the player unravel and reveal the secrets to the rise of the Divine Beasts, and the new arrival of the strange new Pokémon forms in the Vesryn Region!
Of course, what could be more fun than showing these new characters? Why, giving you two new short stories to learn some more about them, of course! These new stories were written by yyeshurun, and provide some excellent backstory into the lives of these two characters right up to the start of Epsilon! To learn more about Jake, go check out the story Thunderstorms and Decisions, and for more on Oliver check out the story Different!
To finish off the May update, we have the next two Divine Beasts of the region ready to show: Atherus the Flying Divine Beast, and Velithun the Ground Divine Beast!
One, the representation of the atmosphere, and the other the representation of the very ground beneath our feet! Can you figure out what myths these Divine Beasts were based on?
With so many new things to experience, and so much new content to go catch up on, we’d love to hear your feedback! Make sure to leave a comment here, on twitter, or on reddit, and let us know what you think! See you next time!
All reside, confined evermore, until stirred.