Official Pokémon Sword and Shield speculation thread (Updated June 5th, 2019)

[Juizel]

If you have to catch them all by trading and transferring you can't really consider it "catching" them all since you didn't do all the "catching".

Then no mythical or any Pokémon you get by event, nor your starter or other gifted Pokémon, nor Pokémon you breed count as "catching" because you legitimately "catch" none of those kinds.

 

[Boss1708]

If you have to catch them all by trading and transferring you can't really consider it "catching" them all since you didn't do all the "catching".

This guy gets it.

 

[BackSet]

Then no mythical or any Pokémon you get by event, nor your starter or other gifted Pokémon, nor Pokémon you breed count as "catching" because you legitimately "catch" none of those kinds.

Mythicals don't count to begin with aince we don't know about them until lager and the rest of those things you get in the game itself and not from an outside source (hacking, trade, transfer from a different game, events, etc)

The one exception to this rule is gen 1, where mew counts and any pokemon traded from red to blue or vice versa (or blue to yellow, or red to yellow, etc) because, y'know, grandfather clause. At least, that's my take on it.

 

[Joker901]

I thought I'd bring up the Wingull example since I still people using it to talk about animation and graphics. It doesn't float, you can see it sway in the wind, and the reason it doesn't flap its wings is because of flavor. Read Wingull's Pokedex entries, like this one from Emerald.

"It makes its nest on a sheer cliff at the edge of the sea. It has trouble keeping its wings flapping in flight. Instead, it soars on updrafts."

I'm not saying there's not valid arguments against the physical appearance of the game, but just trying to make sure people are better informed, if possible. There also have been noticeable graphical updates since the first trailer, and there's a "gameplay footage isn't final" in the last one too, so they're probably still updating textures and polishing certain aspects of the graphics.

It floats. It doesn't flap its wings even when It is still. The wind may help It soar but at some point It must flap its wings because It is not so light to fly even when still. You can clearly see in the demo that It turns around and change direction from being still without flapping his wings. That's so unreal...

 

[Oriden]

Then again they did drop the national dex in gen 7 already so they "slowly" turned "GOTTA CATCH 'EM ALL" into "GOTTA CATCH SOME OF 'EM". It's nothing I personally am fond of, really, and even if you didn't have all old games, filling the national dex (since Shiny Charm excludes event-only ones) in gen 6 at least was fairly easy with just a couple of trades. XY and ORAS all together really made it easily possible. Not saying it didn't cost any effort, but it's not the amount of effort that requires you to own at least a single game for every generation released in the past at least.

And Let's Go also still encouraged catching a lot of Pokemon, with that being the main way to level up so idk. :|

=/ I feel like we've backtracked a lot now with not only dropping the national dex but now cutting pokemon and pretty much locking global trades behind a paywall.

It does, yeah, but you never know what someone might consider "slight visual differences". It's like some people see a colour and call it scarlet, others simply say red.

For the sake of argument, I actually checked the Bulbapedia list for the gender differences and for Gen 5 it was Unfezant, Frillish and Jellicent, while for Gen 6 it was Pyroar and Meowstic. Unfezant, Frillish, Jellicent and Pyroar are fair gender differences imo, since they're basically still the same Pokémon; but both Meowstic learn different moves and have different abilities so idk if I'd still count that as "slight visual difference". Eevee in Let's Go is fair, but afaik that's only the partner Eevee (although I'd be fine if Eevee from now on had that difference, I liked heart-tail Eevee xp)

So compared to how many species got gender differences from gen 1 - 4 in the gen 4 games, I really consider this feature pretty much dropped. And while I don't blame Game Freak for that (it was a neat little detail and a great nod at the real world, where visual gender differences range from super subtle (or even non-existent) to extremely obvious, depending on species) because it really doesn't add too much to the game and probably was one of the most overlooked features I'd still love if it was still a bigger thing. But I'm fine it's not, really.

Gawd I really wish they did add the gender differences to all eevee. Why should partner eevee be so special. >=/

I think "slight differences" pretty much covers the "it has longer whiskers/its whiskers change color depending on its gender" kind of changes. Unfezant, Frillish, Pyroar, and Meowstic weren't really slight differences at all, and like @PkmnTrainerV pointed out, those gender differences we got in Gen 5 and 6 were way more pronounced than many of the ones we got in Gen 4. I don't think you can get more pronounced than Meowstic, and they certainly can't be pronounced changes if the differences are only "slight". Pyroar only got the mane changed and I think you'd be nuts to call that a slight difference when it had a dramatically different hair.

But eh, I don't consider gender differences dropped, I think they just added a ton of pointless ones in Gen 4 to really emphasize the concept because it was new and now it's not a big interesting new feature so we're only getting a couple of them if any. It's still there about as much as every other basic part of gameplay that hasn't been dramatically waved about since its debut.

On a related note- Torchic has the dumbest gender difference of all and if it disappeared no one would even notice.

Love how you sound really enthusiastic at first, and then plain "Or a Dragon, I guess."
Legit made me chuckle here. xD

XD What can I say- I'm more hyped for Flying and Ghost than for Dragon! Though a Flying/Dragon pair could be neat.

Come on Game Freak, give us three new eevees- Flying, Dragon, and Ghost. They all can pretty much fly or float or whatever, it'd be the perfect trio.

Mythicals don't count to begin with aince we don't know about them until lager and the rest of those things you get in the game itself and not from an outside source (hacking, trade, transfer from a different game, events, etc)

The one exception to this rule is gen 1, where mew counts and any pokemon traded from red to blue or vice versa (or blue to yellow, or red to yellow, etc) because, y'know, grandfather clause. At least, that's my take on it.

So you're saying that we shouldn't be able to register pokemon that we got via trades as having been caught, even if those pokemon are version exclusives and that's the only way to get them...?

 

[Plubio]

The turn animation is quite awful but come on Wingull floating is nothing new:

I don't wanna be "that guy" but...

 

[Juizel]

Not gonna respond to the parts I generally agree with, okay? I just want to point that out so you don't think I'm plainly dismissing your points xp

On a related note- Torchic has the dumbest gender difference of all and if it disappeared no one would even notice.

Pretty sure there'd be at least one person who'd notice if it disappeared tbh. Never underestimate the fanatism towards a specific fictional monster a person can have. xD

XD What can I say- I'm more hyped for Flying and Ghost than for Dragon! Though a Flying/Dragon pair could be neat.

Come on Game Freak, give us three new eevees- Flying, Dragon, and Ghost. They all can pretty much fly or float or whatever, it'd be the perfect trio.

For some reason when you said float, I imaged Flying-Eeveelution as something like.... well, imagine a cross-breed between Swablu/Altaria and Eeveelution's general basic designs. Cloudy and super fluffy. Geez, Now I want a Flying type eeveelution, thanks a lot. xD
Then again I'm in the camp of wanting an eeveelution for every type eventually anyway, and I really don't mind in which order I get them. xp

 

[BackSet]

=/ I feel like we've backtracked a lot now with not only dropping the national dex but now cutting pokemon and pretty much locking global trades behind a paywall.


Gawd I really wish they did add the gender differences to all eevee. Why should partner eevee be so special. >=/

I think "slight differences" pretty much covers the "it has longer whiskers/its whiskers change color depending on its gender" kind of changes. Unfezant, Frillish, Pyroar, and Meowstic weren't really slight differences at all, and like @PkmnTrainerV pointed out, those gender differences we got in Gen 5 and 6 were way more pronounced than many of the ones we got in Gen 4. I don't think you can get more pronounced than Meowstic, and they certainly can't be pronounced changes if the differences are only "slight". Pyroar only got the mane changed and I think you'd be nuts to call that a slight difference when it had a dramatically different hair.

But eh, I don't consider gender differences dropped, I think they just added a ton of pointless ones in Gen 4 to really emphasize the concept because it was new and now it's not a big interesting new feature so we're only getting a couple of them if any. It's still there about as much as every other basic part of gameplay that hasn't been dramatically waved about since its debut.

On a related note- Torchic has the dumbest gender difference of all and if it disappeared no one would even notice.


XD What can I say- I'm more hyped for Flying and Ghost than for Dragon! Though a Flying/Dragon pair could be neat.

Come on Game Freak, give us three new eevees- Flying, Dragon, and Ghost. They all can pretty much fly or float or whatever, it'd be the perfect trio.


So you're saying that we shouldn't be able to register pokemon that we got via trades as having been caught, even if those pokemon are version exclusives and that's the only way to get them...?

Yes. Cause I'm a jackass. They were traded you didn't "catch" them.

 

[Joker901]

The turn animation is quite awful but come on Wingull floating is nothing new:

View attachment 119959

I don't wanna be "that guy" but...

It says that It has trouble keeping its wings flapping not that It never flap them...there's a big difference...

 

[Boss1708]

Dear Game Freak: Ghost Type Eeveelution, or GTFO.

Kindly yours, Meta Boss

 

[Oriden]

...to everyone using the pokedex entry to defend Wingull never flapping its wings- you really gotta understand that that doesn't mean that Wingull floats. It's like a seagull and rides on updrafts, but it still needs to flap its wings occasionally. The fact that it just solidly levitates isn't right.

 

[TechSkylander1518]

Mythicals don't count to begin with aince we don't know about them until lager

We've known about mythicals since Gen 1.

and the rest of those things you get in the game itself and not from an outside source (hacking, trade, transfer from a different game, events, etc)

Yes. Cause I'm a jackass. They were traded you didn't "catch" them.

In that case, "Gotta catch em all" becomes worthless, because it's impossible to obtain all Pokemon without trading. That's literally the point of version exclusives.

Maybe you want to stick to a needlessly pedantic interpretation of the slogan, but seeing as Game Freak has made trading and events the only way to complete the PokeDex, it's clear that they don't care.

 

[Oriden]

Pretty sure there'd be at least one person who'd notice if it disappeared tbh. Never underestimate the fanatism towards a specific fictional monster a person can have. xD

Anyone who'd notice that male Torchic's tiny bumhole is missing is strange and I don't wanna know them. =(

 

[Silktree]

These Wingull have something to say:

"Yes, we can."

 

[Boss1708]

Version exclusives and trade-based evolutions need to become a thing of the past.

They're a real pain in the ass for anybody replaying an older game, where internet connection isn't supported anymore.

 

[techitisJ]

I'm soooo scared if there's no new Eeveelution introduced on this game..
.
Do you think we will get a new Eeveelution this time??

It would follow the pattern of every even gen (since Gen 2) introducing a new eeveelution. And I think with Eevee's spot as basically now a mascot in the series, it would suit it well for it to continue to get new evolutions, at least until it fills out the rest of its type roster (and then what's next for it? )

I think the eeveelution I want to see the most is a ghost type eeveelution, or maybe even a bug type eeveelution, but I think they might do something similar to Gen 2 and Gen 6 (maybe Gen 4, but I don't know enough about Sinnoh at this point), and have it suit something with the region. Sylveon suited Gen 6 because of Kalos' themes around fashion and beauty, and the introduction of the fairy typing of course. Gold and Silver (and Crystal, but later) were the games to introduce the Day and Night system, so they had eeveelutions that evolved during the day or night.

We don't know much about Galar yet, but just looking at the region of Galar, I definitely think a Dragon type and Steel type are the most predictable at this point. Dragons because the medieval times kind of feeling you get when looking at the fortress city, and even a bit with the logos. And Steel type because well, sword and shield, and also the industrial city. Whether it is unknown if the games will have just one new eeveelution or 2 is hard to tell, but these are the two most reasonable types.

I wonder what the evolution method will be too.

 

[Joker901]

...to everyone using the pokedex entry to defend Wingull never flapping its wings- you really gotta understand that that doesn't mean that Wingull floats. It's like a seagull and rides on updrafts, but it still needs to flap its wings occasionally. The fact that it just solidly levitates isn't right.

Not only that...but we can clearly see that at some point Wingull turn around and go to the opposite direction without flapping their wings. That's just phisically impossible because if they let themselves be carried by the wind when they turn against the wind they should flap their wings necessarily.

 

[Juizel]

Anyone who'd notice that male Torchic's tiny bumhole is missing is strange and I don't wanna know them. =(

Same here, but that doesn't invalidate the point that there's at least one person who'd notice. xD

Version exclusives and trade-based evolutions need to become a thing of the past.

Much agreed. I'd already be fine if there were NPCs who'd trade you the version exclusives (you then can breed them anyway) and NPCs to help you with trade evolutions where you effectively get your original Haunter, now as Gengar, back or something.

Not only that...but we can clearly see that at some point Wingull turn around and go to the opposite direction without flapping their wings. That's just phisically impossible because if they let themselves be carried by the wind when they turn against the wind they should flap their wings necessarily.

Maybe Wingull is secretly a balloon, that's why it can just float. lol

 

[Esserise]

Official Pokémon Sword and Shield Wingull and semantics of the catchphrase discussion thread (Updated June 21st, 2019)

 

[Poke Dragon]

Completely agree on the version exclusive stuff being a thing of the past. I want to be able to use both version mascots without having to jump through hurdles to get them, that's why I want all remakes to follow HGSS's example of main mascot legendary availability. The only thing that made it possible to get a Lunala in Ultra Sun is because the game offered a second Solgaleo thanks to Cosmog being able to evolve into it eventually.