After looking at the alola map closely (high quality image with

There are still routes though, just likely less bounded as in previous generations by invisible borders. Talking about you, XY, you pieces of shit.

>>27673422
Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. They're still probably called routes, but they're not so rectangular anymore, they're probably more open and irregularly shaped.

This is basically what I started thinking when the descriptions of the island trials first came out, where it sounded like we would be doing multiple different mini quests all around the routes.

>>27673422
>XY
Unova did it worse t b h

>>27673189

For what it's worth, we've already seen route number signs in some of the released info, so at minimum there are still numbered routes, which suggests (not confirms, just suggests) some sort of intended ordering rather than an open world.

Also on that map you can see parts of ehat looks like three more islands close to the clouds.

>>27674289
This. We really need a sticky just for the region though, every week its the same BS eitger that its small or that it might be too different from the others and that we should start panicking Nostradamus style, when in reality this map os the worst to translate in-game.