The Pokémon Company’s Pokémon Direct for Pokemon Sword and Shield showed us several new additions to the game for us to look forward to. This includes a new Galarian form, a number of new Pokemon, and two new trainers.
In case you missed the Pokémon Direct, here is everything you need to know,
New Regional Form: Galarian Form
Pokémon Sun and Moon first introduced the concept of Regional Forms with their Alolan Pokémon. Who can forget the cool looking Marowak spinning flaming staffs, or the dopey looking Exeggutor with its impossibly long neck?
This time, Sword and Shield will be bringing the Galarian form to the game and we are given a look at a handful of them that will be making their way to the game.
Firstly we have Wheezing who’s looking especially dapper in his Galarian form, complete with smokestacks atop his head which resembles extremely long top hats, while the smog around its mouth sort of resembles facial hair. With this new form, Wheezing gets a Fairy typing added to its original Poison type.
Next up, we have the best “HM Slaves” of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, Zigzagoon and Linoone who have traded in their usual brown fur for a black and white one. With the star patterns around their eyes, they have a distinctly more punk aesthetic than their Hoenn counterparts.
What’s more interesting is that Galarian Linoone is capable of evolving into a completely new Pokémon, Obstagoon. This is the first time a Pokémon game has a region-specific evolution. With this new form, the Zigzagoon line of Pokémon has the Dark type added onto their usual Normal type.
New Pokémon: Morpeko
Almost every Pokémon game thus far has its own variant of the adorable Pikachu. White and Black has Emolga, Diamond and Pearl has Emolga, Sun and Moon has Mimikyu, so it comes as no surprise that Sword and Shield will come with its own Pikachu variant as well.
Introducing Morpeko, an electric mouse Pokémon that is capable of changing its form and type when it is hungry. In it’s “Hangry” form, Morpeko takes on a darker colour scheme and its type changes from Electric to Dark. We’re not sure about the other Pokémon in the game but Morpeko is looking to be the most relatable Pokémon in Sword and Shield with its adorable Hangry form.
New Rivals: Marnie and Bede
What will a Pokémon game be without a rival to fight against and a Team Rocket equivalent to defeat?
Filling in the role of your rival in Sword and Shield is Bede. According to The Pokémon Company, Bede is a prideful fellow who has the skills to back it up. Not much else is known about Bede but we might be seeing more of him as we get closer to the release of the game.
On the other hand, we have Marnie, whose goal is to become the Champion of the Galar region in order to “accomplish a certain goal”. Her calm and calculated battle strategies have led to her building a cult-like legion filled with fans who wish to see her succeed. The fans call themselves Team Yell and it seems that they will be the main antagonists of the game.
New Mechanics: You Pokémon can now be sent on jobs!
Lastly, we have a brand new mechanic that will be making its way to Sword and Shield. The upcoming game will already be coming with a number of new features, most notably Gigantamaxing, and Max Raid Battles. Not one to rest on their laurels, The Pokémon Company has announced a new mechanic, Poke Jobs.
That’s right, you now be able to send your Pokémon for jobs via the PC in Pokémon Centers. The Pokémon that gets sent out will return after a certain amount of time with rewards, such as experience points and sometimes even rare items. Certain type of Pokémon will be more suited to specific jobs, and the rewards obtained will depend on the length of the work as well as how suitable the Pokémon is for the job.
That’s all the updates we have for now. We can definitely look forward to more updates closer to the game’s release.
Pokémon Sword and Shield will release on the Nintendo Switch on November 15.
Germaine is a fun-sized introvert who loves nothing better than sleeping in on rainy days. She can be found reading fanfiction and manga while still waiting for her Hogwarts acceptance letter. It’ll come eventually.
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