The Pokémon Company has announced that new information about Pokémon Sword and Shield will be announced this Wednesday
It’s not clear if this will be another Pokémon Direct or something similar, or if they’ll just be releasing information as usual.
Since they’ve specifically announced a date and time, August 7 at 6 AM PT / 9 AM ET, it seems more likely that it will be a video presentation.
(Who knows, though? Announcing announcements is popular, so maybe they just want to make sure everyone knows when the new information will be out.)
Many fans are hoping they will reverse their decision to not have the National Dex in Sword and Shield, but that doesn’t seem very likely. I expect they’ll continue as they have been, and reveal some new Pokémon and characters. Even though I think the true villains have already been shown, I wouldn’t be surprised if they reveal this generation’s evil team.
Are you looking forward to the new Pokémon Sword and Shield news on August 7, or do you think they’ve already revealed enough ahead of the game’s launch?
A new trailer has been released for Pokémon Sword and Shield, revealing a new gameplay mechanic, more Pokémon, and two characters I’ve got my eyes on as the game’s villains.
Pokémon Sword and Shield have been taking a lot of heat lately for the decision to remove the National Pokédex, but as someone who has never transferred my Pokémon from generation to generation, it doesn’t bother me personally (although I understand a lot of people do and dislike this change).
Anyway, the big feature introduced with the new trailer is “Gigantamaxing.”
While we already knew about Dynamaxing, where your Pokémon becomes huge and more powerful, certain Pokémon can instead take on a Gigantamax form, where they also gain a special G-Max Move specific to their species. It sounds to me like a cross between Mega Evolution and Z-Moves.
Drednaw and Corviknight were revealed as two Pokémon with Gigantamax forms.
The trailer also introduces some new Pokémon: Alcremie, Yamper, Rolycoly, and Duraludon. Of these, the only one that really stands out to me is Alcremie, which looks delicious cute.
From the Pokémon Nintendo Direct, we already knew the Pokémon League in this region is a major deal, and the battles to become Champion are broadcast on TV.
The new details explain that you must be endorsed by someone to enter the Gym Challenge, and then trainers who beat all eight Gym Leaders can compete in the annual Champion Cup.
In addition to the Champion, Leon, who was shown previously, we’ve now gotten to see some more key people. Chairman Rose manages the Pokémon League and also runs a large business, his secretary/vice president Oleana manages the company, and I’m calling it right now that these two are villains.
They also introduced a couple more Gym Leaders, a Fighting-type specialist named Bea and a Ghost-type specialist named Allister.
Update: I missed this the first time, but apparently Bea is exclusive to Sword and Allister is exclusive to Shield.
Finally, if you get the Double Pack, you’ll get Dynamax Crystals that let you face Dynamax Larvitar and Dynamax Jangmo-o in Max Raid Battles regardless of version. Larvitar is normally a Shield-exclusive Pokémon while Jangmo-o is Sword-exclusive. Digital copies of the game purchased before January 15 will also get 12 Quick Balls.
How do you feel about Gigantamaxing and the new Pokémon? Do you think Rose and Oleana are villains? Share your thoughts on the latest Pokémon Sword/Shield news in the comments!
After getting some news from the Pokémon press conference, today is the day we were really waiting for – the day of the Pokémon Direct!
The Pokémon Direct provided a lot of new details about Pokémon Sword and Shield, so let’s take a look.
First off, while Pokémon Sword and Shield aren’t open world (again, something I’m happy for), they do have a wide open region called the “Wild Area” that connects several towns and cities. The Wild Area has a wide variety of locations and lets you freely control the camera while exploring.
Pokémon also appear in the field in the Wild Area, although it’s unclear if other parts of the Galar region will still have random encounters or not. (Maybe only in tall grass?)
The big new combat mechanic this time is “Dynamax,” a feature where Pokémon turn into giant versions of themselves. You can use Dynamax once per battle, and it lasts for three turns. It sounds like this might replace the Z-Moves from Sun and Moon.
Gyms are back and will feature Dynamax battles, and there are also new multiplayer “Max Raid Battles” in the Wild Area that let up to four players team up to take on a special Dynamax Pokémon with a chance to capture it.
They introduced several important characters, including the Champion Leon, his younger brother Hop who also acts as your rival, Professor Magnolia and her granddaughter, and the Grass Gym Leader Milo. A few new Pokémon were shown off as well, include Corviknight, a giant raven-like Pokémon. From the way they described Corviknight, I worried it might only serve as a taxi, but it looks like you can catch them as well.
Finally, they showed the two Legendary Pokémon, Zacian of Pokémon Sword and Zamazenta of Pokémon Shield.
Pokémon Sword and Shield will be out worldwide on November 15.
Overall, this was an exciting Pokémon Direct. I didn’t particularly enjoy the last couple Pokémon generations, but I’m excited for Pokémon Sword and Shield. It’s adding plenty of exploration without going full open world, there’s still turn-based combat, and everything they’ve shown so far looks great.
The only thing I dislike is that apparently the Rotom Phone is returning with your Pokédex and other feature, but here’s hoping it’s less annoying than in Sun and Moon.
I’ll want to know more about any version exclusives, but right now I want Pokémon Sword because of Sif Zacian.
Are you excited for Pokémon Sword and Shield after what we learned today?
The Pokémon Company has announced that new information about Pokémon Sword and Shield will be announced this Wednesday
