All The Pokemon Sword And Shield Rumors And Spoilers Leaked So Far
For more than two decades, Pokémon has been a massive part of geek and gaming culture throughout the world. Whether through television, movies, video games, or trading cards, the popular anime has captured the hearts of countless people spanning multiple generations. Now, the gaming world is just months away from a brand new, fully fledged Pokémon experience on the Nintendo Switch.
After Nintendo and developer Game Freak first scratched the itch for a Switch version with Pokémon: Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee — basically enhanced remakes of Red, Blue, and Yellow from the mid-'90s — the dynamic game development duo is almost ready to release Pokémon Sword and Shield.
With an impending Nov. 15 worldwide release, fans are hyped up for new Pokémon, a new region, and plenty of new features. While some info has been confirmed through recent Nintendo Directs, there are still plenty of rumors and unconfirmed leaks floating around. Here's a look at them all.
The game will actually feature two regions
In the past, you've seen the Kanto Region, exploring its ins and outs during Pokémon Red and Blue. It's synonymous with the series, as it's the first region ever introduced in the series. Kanto has almost become like a home, considering that you've almost always been able to return there. It was a mainstay in the first four generations of games, as well as the seventh. Outside of Kanto, you've also explored Johto, Hoenn, Unova, Sinnoh, Kalos, and Alola.
Soon, you'll explore the new region of Galar in Pokémon Sword and Shield. While little is known so far, we do have an understanding that this new, sprawling area is based on actual Great Britain. But rumors have stated that players could have a second region to explore during the games: Kalos. If you spent time in X or Y, you remember the star-shaped Kalos and its vast numbers of Gen 6 Pokémon to catch. Because of Galar's resemblance to the UK and Kalos' to France — and the historical relationship between the two countries — there's a basis for this theory.
You've heard about Dynamax, but how about Gigantamax?
In demos during E3, players got their first look at a new, very large — literally — dynamic in Sword and Shield. Dynamaxing, as it's officially called, is unlike anything you've seen in the series up to this point. Essentially, you have the option of, once per battle, turning one of your little pals into an overwhelmingly gigantic version of itself. It's an amazing sight to see for the first time, but one that will only last for three turns, so you'll want to use the option wisely in order to maximize success.
While Dynamax has been confirmed — and shown off during Nintendo's Treehouse stream in June — there's a rumor that the games will feature a supplemental dynamic known as Gigantamax. In many ways, these two things will be the same, but Gigantamax comes with a twist. According to the massive 4chan leak from an anonymous user in May, certain Pokémon will not only change size, but change looks: "Meowth looks like a long cat. Lapras gets layers like musical bars to its shell and musical notes."
Starter evolutions
For months now, fans have known about Sword and Shield's starters. As in most of the series' games, you'll have the opportunity to choose from three adorable Pokémon — a grass, fire, or water type — and they'll ideally stay with you throughout the entire game. This time around, your grass option will be Grookey, a chimp-like animal with green fur. Scorbunny, a rabbit with powerful legs, represents the fire type. Finally, Sobble makes up the water option. This timid, often sad animal has tears that can make others cry.
That's all confirmed, but what gamers don't know is how their evolutions will play out. According to a leak, Grookey's final form will transform it into a giant gorilla that beats a wooden drum to attack. Scorbunny will evolve into a fighter, with a final, almost humanoid form. Sobble will have two evolutions — Sizzile and Intelleon. Intelleon, its rumored final form, looks like a spy-themed chameleon.
You'll face off against two different "evil teams"
Since Team Rocket tried to take over the world in the name of evil back during Red, Blue, and Yellow, evil organizations have been a main staple of the Pokémon series. That likely won't change in the Nintendo Switch titles. While there's no confirmation on evil teams in Sword and Shield, plenty of information has leaked in recent months. Per a spoiler on GameFAQs, the new games will feature two evil teams.
The large 4chan leak corroborates the fact that there will at least be one evil organization, known simply as Team Yell. But that other leak expands on it, mentioning that one team is a Roman gladiator-type team that hopes to take over the Galar region. Later in the story, this team abandons its ambitions to band together with you and face the second team. This organization, a much more threatening one, is obsessed with the idea of perfection and hopes to wipe out a large portion of people and Pokémon.
Armored evolutions
A February leak — that correctly predicted the games' titles and region — mentioned the idea of armored evolutions for certain Pokémon. While it didn't elaborate on this information, it's easy to understand what this could mean. Certain species will have the ability to change into armored versions of their evolutions instead of the regular versions. Of course, there's no confirmation of this, and no info on how it would actually happen, but it's not out of the realm of possibility.
The leak also named a few specific Pokémon that would fall into the armored evolution category, including Charizard, Mewtwo, Flygon, and Zeraora. In past games, plenty of Pokémon have had different evolutions based on interesting variables. Onix could evolve into Steelix when traded while holding a Metal Coat item. Eevee evolved into elemental versions of itself based on what elemental stone players exposed it to. Based on that, there could easily be a way to turn a Pokémon into an armored version, assuming this rumor carries weight.
New gym leaders potentially revealed
Of course, it wouldn't be a fresh Pokémon game without a crop of gym leaders to test your skills against. Throughout Sword and Shield, you'll face off against a series of gyms in order to prove yourself on your way to becoming a Pokémon Master. During the June 5 Direct, players learned about Milo, the grass type leader. At E3, Nintendo then revealed the second leader, Nessa, who was actually named during the infamous 4chan leak in May.
The Nessa reveal gives some credibility to that leak, which also named two other leaders, Kabu and Opal. While there's no info on Kabu, the rumor mentions that Opal will lead the first-ever Fairy type gym in a Pokémon title. If there's truth to this, it'll make for an interesting strategy when it comes to choosing a starter. Because fairy species are weak to fire, this could potentially mean that the starter Scorbunny could make short work of two gym leaders (the other being Milo and his grass team). Time will tell if the Opal news is true, but it's certainly something to think about as you start to pick out your favorite starter.
New legendary Pokémon
Zapdos. Articuno. Moltres. Longtime fans definitely remember the humble yet awesome beginnings of legendary Pokémon. It started back with Generation 1 and has continued all throughout the 20-plus-year series. That first iteration focused on birds, but based on the Nintendo Direct reveals, Sword and Shield will focus on legendary wolves. At the end of the June 5 Direct, you get a clear look at two of the legendaries: Zacian and Zamazenta. The former carries a sword in its mouth, while the latter has a shield-like mane.
While we know about these two, there's a rumor of a third, very evil legendary that will play a big part in the new games. Basically, all that's known of this alleged Pokémon is its name: Eternatus. If it's anything like Zacian and Zamazenta though, it'll surely be badass. And just because fans have only heard about these three new legendaries doesn't mean that old favorites won't join the mix.
Certain Pokémon will have Galarian forms
If you played through Sun and Moon, you likely recall that multiple Pokémon had regional variants based on their presence in Alola. Known as Alolan forms, these variants often changed their look, their type, and their moves. For example, Rattata's Alolan form turned it into a Dark/Normal Pokémon with black fur and the Gluttony ability. Raichu turned a darker brown, became a Psychic/Electric type, and added the Surge Surfer ability. The regional form is a cool way to change up well-known species and entice trainers to further search for varied versions of the ones they already have.
In Sword and Shield, you'll get another look at regional forms, at least according to this rumor. A post released a couple of weeks before the Pokémon Direct mentioned that the new games would feature 17 Galarian forms of species. The list included Houndour, which would turn from a fire type to an ice type. It also included Noctowl, who's Galarian form would change it from a Flying/Normal type to a Flying/Ice type, turning its fur black with bits of dark blue in the process.