By Ryan Wallace

For those of you who know our editorial staff, you know that we come from a wide array of disciplines. I myself am an ecologist by trade, and in my heart of hearts, even though I may love fashion and the arts, I know that I love animals even more.

When I was a child I was fascinated with the zoo, the beach, tide pools, literally anything that had something new to discover. So when Pokémon came out 20 years ago, I remember being elated at the possibilities of all new creatures, unlike anything we had in our own world. And now, 20 years later, I’m equally as excited for what the new generation of Pokemon has in store.

In my ecological research I specialized in the biodiversity of archipelagos. My work took me all over the world, to the islands of Italy and even to local islands here in California, and every time I stepped foot onto the islands I imagined I was like Charles Darwin on the Galapagos, uncovering thousands of years of speciation, finding new creatures with familiar faces. Ash Ketchum once stepped in my shoes too, when he ventured out of Kanto onto the Orange islands in season two of the popular animated series. Here he found Pokémon of different shades, with different skills, and even an island filled with pink Pokémon, who had adapted to life on an archipelago.

Photo Courtesy of Pokémon/Nintendo/GameFreak

When we first heard about the Alola islands of Pokémon Sun and Moon, I had flashbacks to the Orange Islands and to my own experiences on archipelagos: “Are they going to have polymorphisms of the Pokémon we know?” I thought. And as it turns out, they WILL!

“Alola is surrounded by the sea” the Pokémon Company said in its recent press release regarding the upcoming Pokémon Sun and Moon games. “[This region] has a diverse ecology made up of Pokémon that have lived as natives of the Alola region for generations, along with Pokémon that have more recently arrived in Alola from other regions.”

So what familiar faces are you going to see? We’re sure that over the coming months leading up to its November 18, 2016 release, we’re going to see many new Alola forms of the Pokémon we’ve come to know and love, but today we’re focusing on one of our favorites—Vulpix. This fire-type cutie has always been a fan-favorite, but in the Alola islands it’ll take on a new look and a new type—ice!