We’ve already covered quite a lot from the Pokémon Sword & Shield Direct.
There’s the Wild Area, the Max Raid Battles, and Dynamaxing, but we still need to talk
about the people.
A handful of new characters were introduced and many of them have quite a large role to
play in this adventure.
But there’s always more to learn.
So it’s time to send out the old Analysis Machine to see what secrets and hidden details
it can find.
Of course, be sure to check out our previous analyses as we won’t be referencing anything
already mentioned there.
Before we get to the characters, let’s take a closer look at the new Gyms.
We see a familiar scene of the new stadiums before showing off a clearly excited crowd.
And this is most certainly the Grass Gym as nearly every person is wearing green of some
kind.
They’ve got some major hometown love going on.
We then see the trainer heading toward the field in his uniform, which has seen a change
since the reveal trailer.
Before, his number was 227, a reference to the original release day of Pokémon Red & Green
in Japan, as well as the date of this reveal.
But now it’s 65, a seemingly random number.
Does this mean that players will be able to choose their number or is 65 the number every
player will be given?
In fact, these numbers have us quite curious.
When we get our first look at the Gym Leader, Milo, as he enters from the opposite side,
it’s shown that his number is 831.
That number doesn’t have any significance when it comes to Pokémon, and there’s too
little information about Milo to say if it’s important to him.
But we have a feeling that these numbers do matter in some way.
After all, as we’ll see later, the Champion’s number is one.
But for now, we don’t know if every number matters in some way.
As mentioned in the Direct, Gym Battles are widely loved across Galar to the point that
they’re televised.
And we see this in action during the trailer as Rotom camera drone flies by the battle.
Another Rotom drone can even be seen focusing squarely on the fight.
It’s a small touch, but it does give the sense that players are seeing how the battle
is playing out for people at home.
The camera angles shown do give the illusion that this is a bigger deal than ever before.
There are even special seats at ground level behind glass to really give it that stadium
feeling like a sports event.
And this of course reflected in the player’s uniform which shows off the League’s symbol,
which does have the feel of a soccer league.
And then there’s Milo, the baby-faced Gym Leader with muscles like a bodybuilder.
He’s a jovial guy, always smiling during the battle.
The Pokémon website describes him as having a kind heart with his credo being to always
enjoy battles.
He specializes in endurance matches using Grass-type Pokémon and is well liked by the
Trainers of his Gym.
Now these two points are quite fascinating.
The latter point means that other trainers can be faced before Milo like in past Gyms.
In fact, it’s likely that this huge crowd isn’t summoned until the player reaches
Milo for a challenge.
What has us curious though is the mention of endurance matches.
Is this an extra element of Gym Battles now?
Maybe each Leader will be focused on a certain aspect of battle in addition to their type.
So Milo would be focused on defense or high HP while other Gym Leaders could focus on
speed or other strategies.
We can’t be completely certain, but it would help the Gyms feel even more unique.
As part of Milo’s design, he has six Poké Balls hanging from his side, potentially giving
us hope that more trainers will have a full team to battle.
But that’s unfortunately not the case as a screenshot from the website reveals that
he only has two Pokémon.
This screen also shows that weaknesses won’t be displayed for players as in Sun & Moon
since Scorbunny’s Ember is obviously Super Effective against Grass types.
There’s still something curious about Milo though.
In this scene, we can see that one of his Pokémon is in an Ultra Ball.
So what could that mean?
Does this indicate that he won’t be the first Gym Leader that you face?
After all, a screenshot from the Pokémon website reveals that his Eldegoss is level
19.
That’s typically the level of the second or third Gym that players challenge.
This could mean that the first Gym players encounter is actually the one in the steam
city.
But what does his Ultra Ball mean for the player?
Is it simply a way of subtly revealing Milo’s skill or is it an indication that they’ll
be available in Poké Marts after this fight?
That does seem a little early though as Ultra Balls are not usually stocked until players
have 3 to 5 badges.
Maybe it’s unlocked earlier though we kind of doubt.
But the scene itself has both trainers recalling their Pokémon which could mean that one fainted
while the other is replacing that Pokémon though we think is part of the Dynamaxing
sequence.
The Pokémon needs to be brought back into its ball where the Dyna Band then supercharges
the Pokémon through the glove both wear, creating the huge Poké Ball we then see them
toss.
Our look at the Gym comes to and end with the appearance of Galar’s Champion, Leon,
as smoke clears in front of him.
But this isn’t the Grass Gym.
This stadium is bigger as it features the glass boxes we mentioned before as well as
two floors of seats, rather than just one.
This is a much bigger event.
The question is, is this the final battle against Leon or could players take him on
in another capacity before the final showdown?
We obviously don’t know but let’s take a closer look at what we do know about Leon.
For one, his outfit screams Champion in a way that few others have.
The sports uniform, with the sword and shield on his chest, along with a cap with the sharp
design reminiscent of a crown along with freaking cape.
This guy is a star and he knows it.
As we said earlier, even his number is one.
And he might be reaping the rewards that this fame grants.
When we see him in Professor Magnolia’s kitchen, we get a look at the back of his
cape, which is actually covered in sponsorships.
That would explain the massive house that his younger brother, Hop, lives in.
Interestingly, he also has two bands on his wrists.
Now the one on his right hand is his Dynamax Band while the other just has the symbol for
the League.
Still, we wonder if this element has at least some importance as the characters we’ve
seen so far only wear one band on their wrist.
Now the thing is, we don’t really know much about Leon’s personality.
The Pokémon website just states that it, along with his skill as he’s never been
defeated in battle, has made him extremely popular.
And we see this in action as he stands in front of the train station of the first town.
People are screaming wildly for him and he even does a pose.
He truly is the star of the Galar region.
Leon is in this small town for a reason though.
From the few scenes that he appears in, he seems to be the one who gives the player and
Hop their first Pokémon.
So let’s talk about Hop and his role as your rival.
We do see the Starters line up near the rival’s house, not Magnolia’s.
We can see a nearby shed and table next to the battle arena which can also be spotted
during the inevitable first battle against Hop.
However, we don’t believe the Starters are immediately lined up like this when they’re
first introduced.
The Pokémon website has two screenshots featuring Sobble and Grookey.
Sobble is near Hop’s pond, crying while Grookey is using its stick near a fruit in
a tree.
We believe this indicates that each Starter will have a small introduction to better show
off their personalities before the player chooses one.
It’s a wonderful idea to immediately build a connection, and it seems to be further emphasized
after picking one as we see Scorbunny give the player a fist bump.
We can’t really imagine Sobble doing something like that so it’s likely that each one will
have a greeting closer to their personalities.
This is also a small taste of how the player character actually emotes now as we can see
her small smile turn into a big one.
As we’ll show, the player no longer has a permanent grin with a thousand-yard stare.
After picking your Pokémon, you’ll naturally have a first battle against Hop as we see
the two of you face off in the arena.
He sends out Sobble while the male trainer sends out Grookey which indicates that he’ll
pick the Pokémon weak to yours rather than the one strong against it.
However, there’s a bit of a twist to this.
In a screenshot from the Pokémon website, we see the female trainer using Scorbunny
against Hop’s Grookey.
It seems pretty standard until we see that Scorbunny is already level 6 while Hop has
two Pokémon despite Grookey only being level 5.
So could this mean that Hop gets both of the Starters that you don’t choose?
After all, it is his brother that’s giving away the first Pokémon.
Or is it possible that Hop already had another Pokémon on hand?
We can’t say for sure, but another oddity is the player trainer.
In this battle, neither the girl or boy are wearing their backpack yet, which makes sense
as they haven’t began their journey yet.
But then there’s the scene where Scorbunny gives a fistbump.
This would seem to be where the player chooses their partner and yet here she has her backpack.
So what’s going on?
Do players get to use a Starter before the official selection is made?
It would explain why Scorbunny is level 6 in the screenshot.
But there’s no way to know for certain.
After this battle, we presume the next destination is Professor Magnolia’s house.
We hesitate to call this a lab as the player, Hop, and Sonia are all obviously inside her
kitchen.
Plants are everywhere and there’s even baskets of freshly picked vegetables in the background.
But the scene just before does feature Sonia in the familiar library setting that we saw
in the original trailer.
So it’s not too surprising that Magnolia’s house is also her lab.
As we mentioned in our previous analysis, growth seems to be a major theme in Sword
& Shield.
This is taken both literally thanks to Dynamaxing and perhaps figuratively as Magnolia’s home
is covered in plants, has a garden outside, a greenhouse, and even her home is nearly
overtaken by a tree.
Yet despite all this plantlife, her main focus of research is said to be the Dynamax phenomenon.
What connection could there be between plants and this new ability?
At the very least, we’re pretty sure this is where players will receive the new Pokédex
and this is likely guided by Leon as we see him in the kitchen with Magnolia and near
her front door as she greets the young trainers.
A lot of attention has been paid to her cane with many presuming it to be a pre-evolution
Corviknight, but we think that’s just Corviknight itself as the ridges on its head matches.
Amusingly, both Magnolia and her granddaughter, Sonia, have a way of twirling their fingers
when talking, Magnolia around her glasses and Sonia with her hair.
It’s a subtly cute family trait.
Now unfortunately, we don’t learn much about Sonia during this Direct.
The Pokémon website mentions that Magnolia gave her a certain unnamed research task,
but she’s also there to offer help and advice to the player.
In fact, we see her hand over something in Magnolia’s library.
This could be the Pokédex or maybe the Dyna Band is given early since they’re such a
fixture of Galar’s Gym Battles.
Though that might not happen until players reach the Grass Gym town as she’s also met
there.
Still, her full role is certainly a mystery.
That’s all the named trainers that we know so far, but there’s still a few trainer
classes that can be seen throughout the trailer.
The first is when the player is heading toward Magnolia’s home.
A trainer awaits just before the small bridge.
It’s difficult to say from this distance, but we think that it may be a Youngster.
Now we did see a young boy with a Grubbin in the previous trailer, but rather than a
Youngster, he may have been the new Preschooler, as this boy looks at least a little older.
We have a better look at the next trainer, who’s just outside the Grass Gym town.
Based on his overalls, we’re pretty sure he’s a Breeder as that’s what Breeders
wore in Sun & Moon.
However, that outfit was a little different from what came before so it may be possible
that he’s a new farmhand trainer class.
We do see farm equipment in the area after all.
But if we had to choose one, we’re going to go with him being Galar’s version of
a Breeder.
The next trainer is on a path lined with trees.
We don’t get a good look at her, but she does carry a Poké Ball and a cell phone we
think she might be the new design for Beauties.
The scene then shifts back into the caves from the first trailer, which is now populated
by a trainer.
Based on his outfit, he’s very likely the Galar version of a Worker trainer.
Finally, we see the new look for the Black Belts as one hangs out near the ice flows
to the north east.
Okay, we’re almost done here, but there’s still a few things that we wanted to mention.
First of all, there are no text boxes to be seen anywhere in this trailer despite the
fact that multiple characters, including Milo, Leon, Sonia, and Hop, all have pretty complex
movements with no real pause given.
While text boxes are undoubtedly going to be in the game, it’s appearing pretty likely
that at least some form of voice acting might be featured as well.
Now, we’re not completely sure on this as areas that were completely empty in the previous
trailer are now populated so hiding text boxes shouldn’t be that hard, but it does raise
some suspicions.
And related to this is how much more the player trainer emotes throughout this Direct.
We mentioned the joy of meeting Scorbunny, but then there’s also the moment when summoning
a Dynamax Pokémon.
But both of these are big events.
Maybe smaller scenes don’t get that same love?
We don’t think that’s the case though.
There’s a moment when the player and Hop are riding on a train, likely after the first
town.
Both are looking at their Pokédexes with the player’s being red and Hop’s blue.
But at one point, Hop stretches and in reaction the player gives a big smile.
Even when the two are looking at their phones, the player looks engaged.
For the first time, player characters are going to look like they care about what’s
happening around them!
But speaking of the Pokédexes, we get more information on them thanks to the Pokémon
website.
This time they’re part of something called the Rotom Phone.
So Rotom is joining the journey once again, but he’ll be able to do more than just act
as the Pokédex.
He can also receive special upgrades so that when he’s attached to the returning bike,
it’ll move faster on land or even help travel across water, which we do see in the trailer.
So the Rotom Phone in conjunction with the bike seems to be how HMs are replaced in Sword
& Shield.
It can likely even call for the Corviknight taxi.
It really is a Pokémon Lyft!
Finally, we see what online battles will look like in the game as well as the symbol for
online battles.
It’s similar to what we’ve seen in the past except they’re modeled after the Gym
Stadiums.
Considering the fact that Dynamaxing can be used, this setting makes a lot of sense.
But that’s everything that we could find in the Pokémon Sword & Shield Direct.
There’s a lot of fun changes coming to the game along with characters and elements that
have certainly piqued our interest.
We’re looking forward to seeing what else the 8th generation has to offer.
Of course let us know if we missed anything in the comments.
And don’t miss our previous analysis on the Wild Area.
Thanks for watching and be sure to subscribe to GameXplain for more on Pokémon and other
things gaming.