Pokemon Direct: What We Know So Far

So, first of all. Those Pokedex “leaks”? I’m a little impressed in the effort put into them, but it looks like they were faked. It isn’t uncommon for leaks to be faked in the Pokemon community, but every now and then you come across one that seems really real…and it becomes a dud. Honestly though? After seeing what we’re actually getting, I’m pretty glad they’re fake. Let’s discuss a little of what we learned today about Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield.

We knew about Galor and the inspiration of the region and the starters, but we got a sneak peek at some of the new Pokemon. Of course, Corviknight is my favorite of the reveals but they were all interesting design wise. Nothing too insane yet like an ice cream cone or a set of keys. We also got to see the Wild Areas, which I hope is just the normal areas between towns because one feature from Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee I liked was the removal of random encounters and the ability to see them in the wild. That appears to be back, which I’m pretty hyped about. Also, gyms are now soccer fields?? I’m not sure if it was just the one, but I’m kinda hoping that every gym battle is held in some sort of stadium now.

However, the biggest reveal was this year’s new mechanic. It was rumored to be Armored Pokemon because you GOTTA have knights in Britain! Instead, we got Dynamax. So far, all we know is that it lasts 3 turns and changes their movesets from regular moves to MAX MOVES. Outside of that, we also know that we can catch Dynamax-ed Pokemon in a team multiplayer mode called Max Raid Battles. Oddly enough they stress team work on this specific part, but Nintendo hasn’t even implemented native voice chat on the Switch…so…Discord it is? Unless you want AI partners which, according to the Sword and Shield site, you can.

Along with how gyms will work and a look at some new characters, we also got a look at the new Legendary Pokemon: Zacian and Zamazenta. I think their names were tests to see how many times they could use the letter “Z” but I digress. I love Zacian’s design to be just a wolf with a sword while Zamazenta has shield fur…? That’s fine, I suppose Zacian still looks cooler to me. What the direct didn’t show that I also found significant was the new Pokedex feature. Like before in Sun and Moon, it’ll be a Rotom Pokedex. But according to the site, it can do nutty things like move faster on land or ride over water?? I wish we could have seen that instead of a screenshot.

All in all, this is shaping up to be leagues better than Sun and Moon and I have high hopes. We even got a release date of November 15th, which falls around the same time as any other Pokemon game. But that seems to be all we know for now. You guys excited for this? I know I am. I need this game now.