Everything has the potential to look fantastic in Unreal Engine 4, be it Mario or Sonic or Mount Everest or… like we said, everything. It’s previously been shown that Pokémon can look amazing in the game engine as well, and now, somebody else has re-proven that notion with a rendering of battle animations from Pokémon Sun and Moon, a fan-made video that may be more important than you realize.

The two-minute tech demo shows seventh-generation Pokémon Incineroar and Salazzle facing each other in a breezy, grassy field displaying their idle and battle animations, and aside from lighting and shadow issues, it’s definitely a strong proof of concept that may also be a hint a the future.

Now, it’s been rumored recently that Sun and Moon will be joined by a third Generation 7 game, which many are presuming to be titled Pokémon Stars (much like Pokémon Yellow and Crystal and other enhanced remakes before it). In what would be a first for the Pokémon series, though, this remake wouldn’t appear on the same console as its peers, since Stars is speculated to be a Nintendo Switch title.

It was also confirmed back in October that the Switch will support Unreal Engine 4, so the environment of the above video represents the engine firepower the Switch is working with, meaning that, if these rumors end up being the truth, we could very well see Pokémon character models that look pretty close to these.

3D models like these would certainly be a far cry from the first-generation sprites, and much like the optimizations Sun and Moon have made, it’s a change we’d welcome with the most open of arms. How about you? Let us know in the comments!

Featured Image: CryZENx