Earlier today, a new presentation about Pokemon Sword and Shield aired online. It wasn’t the longest presentation in the world by any means, but it contained a fair bit none the less, with info on new Pokemon, forms, characters and mechanics all being included none the less.

And so in this article, we’ll be summarising and giving our thoughts on it all. So watch the trailer below if you haven’t seen it already:

Then check out what we’ve got to say about the whole thing below!

New Pokemon

Starting with the new Pokemon revealed for the game. Surprisingly enough, there weren’t all that many in this reveal, since the focus of the presentation seemed to be on forms rather than new species.

Still, a few were shown none the less. One of which is the obligatory Pikachu clone, Morpeko.

However, this one has a bit of a twist…

Namely, multiple forms of its own, and a mechanic that switches between them mid battle. This ability is called Hunger Switch, and changes Morpeko between an Electric type and a Dark type every turn. It’s a neat setup, and one which has an amusing explanation behind it too, given that it’s literally changing form whenever it’s ‘hangry’ (or whatever you kids nowadays say).

Morpeko also has a unique move to go with this setup too. This move is called Aura Wheel, and switches between being an Electric type move and a Dark type move depending on Morpeko’s current form. A bit like those multitype moves Arceus, Genesect and Sivally use really.

So that’s Morpeko. But what about the other new Pokemon?

Well, that needs a bit of explaining first, which is why we’ll need to talk about regional forms.

New Galarian Forms

Since like in Alola, Pokemon in Galar also have new forms specific to the region. For instance, Galarian Weezing is now a Poison/Fairy type that purifies the polluted air it breathes in, with a design remniscent of factory smoke stacks and top hats:

Whereas Zigzagoon and Linoone are now Dark/Normal types instead, similar to how Meowth and Persian were in the generation 7 games.

However, unlike gen 7 forms, gen 8 forms can have new evolutions. And that’s where the other newly revealed Pokemon comes in.

Aka Obstagoon. This Dark/Normal type creature is the final form of Galarian Zigzagoon and Linoone, and only those forms. This means that their normal forms can’t evolve into it, whereas their Galarian versions can.

So now it seems new Pokemon forms aren’t just mirrors of their normal evolutionary lines, but true alternates, with the ability to evolve into new forms unseen in previous entries. It’s a pretty neat change really, especially given that previously useless Pokemon like Farfetch’d have also been mentioned as getting said new evolutions.

Either way, those are all the new Pokemon and forms. But that’s not the end of the reveals.

Team Yell

Since new human characters got revealed in the trailer too. Such as the villainous team for the region, Team Yell.

Which themselves are a little different from past teams in the series. Why? Because unlike many of their predecessors, they’re not lunatic cults trying to take over the world or rewrite reality.

They’re crazy football hooligan esque fans of Marnie, another of your rivals. Yep, now your rival’s fanbase are the main antagonists in game.

And apparently they’re pretty determined to make sure no one else defeats their idol too. They’ll get in the way of gym badges, turn up blocking your way at every turn, and do whatever it takes to make sure no one gets to the championships before Marnie does. They certainly make for a very different set of antagonists.

Plus a very fitting set given the drama around the game at the moment. How amusing that a game supposedly hounded by a ‘toxic fanbase’ would have a villain team who is basically an in universe toxic fanbase. If we didn’t know any better, we’d assume the idea stemmed from Game Freak getting annoyed about Pokemon fans on Twitter and Reddit.

But we do know better. The games have been in development a while, the villainous team was known about long before any of the National Dex controversy came to be, and the UK has a certain reputation for hooligans in certain sports too. So as ‘fitting’ as it may be, Team Yell being topically relevant is merely an accident more than anything else.

As for their idol Marnie… well there’s not much said about her just yet. You’ll face her at various times in your quest, she likely plays the role of a more antagonistic rival like Blue or Silver overall, and her fame comes from her calm, calculated battle strategies or what not. So yeah, your rival and their fanbase are now apparently the main villains of these games.

However, the rivals don’t end there. No, it seems there’s a third rival in these games too. Someone knows as Bede:

And given he seems to have ‘other objectives as well’, we’re gonna go out on a hunch and say he’s up to no good. Because at the end of the day, it’s clear that Team Yell can’t be the only bad guys.

Really, they can’t. You can’t honestly tell us that after 7 generations of crazy loons trying to take over the world that the only antagonists in gen 8 will be a bunch of hooligans/punks.

So like with Team Skull before them, it’s clear someone else has to up to no good behind the scenes. Probably someone involved in the goings on at the Pokemon League, maybe someone associated with the chairman.

And that role fits Bede perfectly. He’s a mysterious drifter wearing suspicious clothing, going around doing what we presume are suspicious things.

That seems pretty villainous to us.

Poké Jobs

Still enough with the speculation for now. Onto the new job system introduced to the series, which in this case is known as Poké Jobs. It’s basically a cross between Paper Mario’s Trouble Centre and Pokemon Sun/Moon’s Poke Pelago, with you being able to send Pokemon from your PC boxes on errands to gain exp and help out others in the game world.

It’s a pretty neat concept really, especially given that different Pokemon do well in different kinds of jobs. Or that Pokemon can get more exp for doing a job well.

So it’s a worthy replacement for Poke Pelago in our book.

And that’s it for now. There are certain to be other presentations and trailers with Pokemon Sword and Shield updates in future, but that’s fr this one.

So what do you think of the reveals during it? Are you happy to see Galar get its own regional forms? Do any of the new Pokemon take your fancy? What do you think of Marnie and Team Yell overall?

Tell us your thoughts on the matter in a comment below or over on the Gaming Latest forums today!

Source:

New Pokemon Sword and Shield Trailer (YouTube)