The leaker, an anonymous poster, made a wide variety of claims about Pokemon Sword and Shield that were proven true by the games’ Nintendo Direct presentation. This includes that the rival’s name is Hop, that Pokemon will become supersized through the new Dynamax feature, and that the land between cities is called the “Wild Area.”
Even though the leak comes from 4chan, it getting so much about Pokemon Sword and Shield correct certainly makes it worth a second look. However, we must caution that this post could still be a hoax, and fans should always wait for official information from Nintendo or Game Freak.
Here’s an abbreviated rundown of what else is leaked in the post (click the image below for a closer look):
Team Rocket-style group is called Team Yell Eternatus is the name of an “evil” legendary Gigantamaxing makes Pokemon giant and changes their look - example: Pikachu looks like old-school fat Pikachu Farfetch’d is getting an evolution called Sirfetch’d Skwovet and Greedunt are two new chipmunk Pokemon that hide in trees Fourth gym is a fairy-type gym Players have to complete challenges before fighting gym leaders Camp to play with Pokemon and raise friendship level Scorbunny’s evolution is called Raboot and will learn fighting-type moves Sobble evolves to Sizzile and then to Intelleon, which is a spy-themed water-type Grookey’s final form is a giant gorilla that attacks with a wood drum
Some of the most interesting tidbits from the leak are that Gen 1 Pokemon Farfetch’d is apparently getting a new evolution, that there will be an evil legendary named Eternatus, Gigantamaxing will apparently be an upgraded version of Dynamaxing, and of course, the details about the Pokemon Sword and Shield starter evolutions.
The 4chan post says that Scorbunny’s evolution line is “pure fighter,” though based on the context of the sentence, it’s likely that is a typo and they meant to say that Scorbunny’s evolutions are “pure fire.” Fans have often made fun of how fire-type starter Pokemon tend to evolve into fire/fighting-types, so it seems that Scorbunny will avoid that fate while still learning some fighting-type moves.
Again, we must stress that fans should still take this leak with a grain of salt. It’s possible that the leaker mixed in false information with the real deal to throw everyone off. Luckily, with the E3 2019 Nintendo Direct set to take place on June 11 and likely featuring more Pokemon Sword and Shield, we may not have to wait much longer to see if there’s any more truth to this particular leak.
Pokemon Sword and Shield will launch on November 15, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch
