Pokemon Sword and Shield announced for Nintendo Switch

Pokémon Sword and Shield are the first main Pokemon games on the Nintendo Switch, revealed the The Pokémon Company. Both titles will be released by the end of this year, and they're packed with new features and new monsters to catch!

New Pokemon, new games

The games are the first all-new and traditional RPGs in the series since Pokemon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon in 2017. A trailer showed the games' full 3D setting, with new areas and trainers.

The region is called galar, described as a more modern setting by the director Shigeru Ohmori da Game Freak. It appears to be an old factory, with cranes, trains and steel mills. The Pokémon Company adds that it is a “Idyllic countryside and contemporary cities – vast plains and snow-capped mountains”.

We also see trainers fighting in real Pokémon stadiums – grassy arenas that look like football fields. A trainer even comes out in uniform, suggesting something more akin to the anime's interpretation of the Pokémon world.

Other areas include a mine, a library, a train station and a much bigger and cuter hometown than ever before. (Ivy-covered door frames!) But as seen in the map above, the Galar region certainly has plenty of snow to go through, too. 

Pokémon Sword and Shield will feature real wild Pokémon battles, unlike the latest Nintendo Switch games (Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee), and the usual trainer battles.

There will be both new Pokémon and the reappearance of Pokémon from previous generations. (We saw monsters like Pikachu, Tyranitar e munchlax, for example). There will also be the return of Pokémon gyms, according to the games website.

The seventh generation games, Sun and Moon, replaced these games with island trials, fun diversion in the usual Pokemon fashion – but we missed the proper battles against gym leaders and trainers. (Although none were seen in the trailer today, sadly.)

Also shown were the newest trio of beginners at the end of the debut trailer: Grookey grass type, Scorbunny fire type and sobbland water type.

Unfortunately, no other new Pokemon were shown, including the starter evolutions, but we have time to see more before launch.

Pokemon Sword and Shield still in 2019

The presentation Pokemon Nintendo Direct this morning was timed with the franchise's anniversary. pokemon do 23 years today, with the original games of Game Boy (Pokemon Red & Green) being released in Japan in February 27, 1996.

Around here, it was only in 1998 that we would have the chance to venture into the world of pocket monsters when the Pokémon Red & Blue versions arrived in Brazil. Along with the anime that was a success, Pokémon became a fever that struck many young people and is in their hearts to this day.

Earlier this year, Nintendo had already confirmed a late 2019 slot for upcoming Pokémon games, in line with the series' traditional release schedule.

Many did not expect an announcement of a new game in the franchise so soon, since Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee are still recent hits on Nintendo Switch. However, Nintendo had already confirmed that these were spin-offs of the series, and that it was already working on resuming the course of the original franchise now on Nintendo's new console.

Now, with the release of Pokémon Sword and Shield properly scheduled for the end of the year, we'll have our Poké Balls ready! Soon, Nintendo is expected to make small announcements revealing the new Pokémon in the Galar region and new gameplay details.

Get ready for a new journey, Trainers, as new adventures await you in this new chapter in the Pokémon series!