A new trailer was just dropped for Pokemon Sword and Shield, bringing with it new rivals, new Pokemon, and a “villain” team.
First on the docket is Galarian forms, a concept returning from Sun and Moon – but this time including Pokemon outside of generation 1! Yeah, that was sort of a thing for a few years. Galarian Wheezing, a Poison/Fairy type with two possible reveals, sporting two moustaches and smokestacks on each head. Koffing was not touched on, but I’m sure we’ll see it later. Next up is the Dark/Normal (4x weak against Fighting, lovely) Galarian Zigzagoon/Linoone line, sporting a black–and-white punk rock look. Galarian Linoone was then shown to evolve into the new Pokemon Obstagoon, which is a new feature for regional form Pokemon. Obstagoon specializes in using the move Obstruct to guard and counter attacks. This generation 3 line opens the door to anything in Sword and Shield, so I hope to see a lot more like it (though we’ll probably just see about ten evolutionary lines).
Speaking of new Pokemon, this trailer introduced one more. Morpeko is an Electric/Dark type who is always more of one than the other. In Full Belly Mode, its Aura Wheel attack is Electric type. But when it Hunger Switches to “Hangry Mode” (how do you do fellow kids), Aura Wheel becomes Dark-type. It can switch between these forms in battle after every turn, though we don’t know if berries or other food items can affect this.
Finally, we have the new rivals and a new “villain” team. Bede looks like a smug jerk of a rival, and I’m glad we finally have one of those again after five generations without one. It’s a good motivator. He’s clearly wearing a League uniform under his coat, so you’ll be seeing him a few times. The last rival and the “villain” team are linked. Marnie is a spirited goth trainer, and Team Yell consists of her rowdy, punk rock-inspired fans. They’re… easily the least “villainous” team in the series, so we can pretty much say for certain that the upper League management is evil. They will show up to cheer Marnie on, which is cute, but they mostly just exist to get in the way.
The website actually includes one more feature – Poke Jobs! In the Galar region, people and Pokemon often work together, so corporations and universities request their help through Poke Jobs. Trainers can check for available Poke Jobs at the Rotomi (who also host your storage Boxes and other features) in Pokemon Centers and will be able to send Pokemon directly from their Boxes to any job. Trainers will find that certain Pokemon types are suited for specific jobs. The experience gained while on the job will help Pokemon grow, and you may even get rare items as rewards.
That’s a fair bit of news for a two-minute trailer. Pokemon Sword and Shield is on it’s way this November 15th, so we’ll likely be seeing a few more of these news drops in the coming months. There’s still details from fully accurate leaks that we haven’t seen yet, so stay vigilant. We’ve also got an official contest to win a Nintendo Switch alongside copies of Sword and Shield, so check that out in it’s own article!
