Pokemon Sword and Shield Leaks and Rumors | Legendaries and armored Pokemon revealed

The latest games in the best-selling Pokemon series, Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield, have been revealed, kicking off Generation 8 with a proper Pokemon RPG exclusively on Nintendo Switch. The new games were announced earlier today, and there are already plenty of Pokemon Sword and Shield leaks and rumors out there, including a possible reveal of the Legendaries and armored Pokemon in the games.

The games don’t launch until late 2019, so there’s still plenty of time for new rumors and leaks before then. We’ll update this page periodically with all the latest crazy fan theories and genuinely interesting possible leaks, so when taken together we should know exactly what Pokemon Sword and Shield will play like. Or, more likely, we’ll be incredibly confused. Either way, should be fun!

What Legendaries and Armored Pokemon have been rumored?

Last week there was a 4chan post from someone who claimed to know about the next Pokemon games coming from Nintendo, simply saying “this is it. Believe it now or later.” Normally we wouldn’t give the time of day to a 4chan post, nor would we spit on a 4chan leak if it was on fire, but this one may have been legit. It certainly got at least two facts right, just ahead of the official reveal: the name of both games, and the Great Britain-style region. So what else did the leak say?

Well, it specifically reveals some Legendaries and armored Pokemon we can expect in Pokemon Sword and Shield. Legendary Pokemon include a “metal snake and wooden horse,” and there will be armored evolutions of Pokemon. We can expect to see armored versions of Charizard, Flygon, Zeraora, and even Mewtwo. Oh, yes, apparently Mewtwo’s in the game. Additionally, somehow Meltan will tie into both these armored evolutions and Legendary lore, although we don’t have specifics on that.

It’s entirely possible that whoever made this leak merely found out two pieces of information we got today, and then embellished it with some interesting rumors that had been floating around 4chan and the internet already, so don’t take this as fact just because they got a couple of things right. There’s also been the suggestion that the Legendaries will be based on the Wolves of Fenrir/Ragnarok instead, since the game logos are topped with wolves. Nevertheless, it’s interesting, and cataloging interesting rumors and leaks is what we’re here for. Take it with a pinch of salt, but just a pinch.

Is the Scorbunny final evolution art real?

One of the only facts we have about Pokemon Sword and Shield right now are details on the three starter Pokemon, which includes the incredibly cute fire rabbit Scorbunny. However, you may have seen the piece of art above, which seems to be fairly legit-looking art showing the final evolution of Scorbunny, into some sort of weird Mega Man-esque robot-y rabbity-thing. Is this a real leak, which was supposed to be part of the Nintendo Direct, or some press package?

Sadly, this is not real, it is merely some really cute fan art. We’ve cropped the picture but you can see the original here, or at least the full “leak,” and it has the Instagram and Facebook watermarks of the original artist faded in the bottom right corner. Unfortunately it’s too faded to see clearly, so we can’t link you to the artist, but quite simply: it’s fan art. Definitely. Still, excellent fan art, nonetheless!

Pokemon Football World Cup?

While the idea of Pokemon Stadiums aren’t a new thing to the series (see the, um, Pokemon Stadium games), and so the appearance of a cool-looking and very Wembley-like stadium in the Pokemon Sword and Shield trailer isn’t that shocking, two things make us raise our eyebrows. The first is the very football-themed kit of the player character in the shot above, despite previous stadium battles never requiring the trainers to dress up. The other is that this region is based on the UK, and if you ask any non-British person, they’ll say that all British people are obsessed with football.

So if Pokemon Sword and Shield are set in the UK, essentially, will a Pokemon version of football make an appearance? Perhaps even some form of Pokemon World Cup? That’d be a spin-off all by itself! This is a theory from Techradar, and while it’s not a full rumor, it certainly sounds like a possibility since that outfit looks exactly like a football kit. Coming 2021 to Nintendo Switch: Pokemon World Cup. We’re calling it.

Are the new Pokemon sports-themed?

Speaking of sports and the UK, the simple British people’s love of bizarre and boring sports may even have influenced the names and identity of the Generation 8 Pokemon in Sword and Shield. This is a fan theory from ZurgFerguson on Reddit, based partly on the names of the three starter Pokemon. Scorbunny, being a fire rabbit, could be a combination of “scorch” and “bunny.” Then again, it could be a play off the word “score” suggesting football, plus it’s fast, has big kicking feet, and wears white. Grookey has a stick which could either be a cricket bat or a snooker cue, since his name does sound like either “cricket” or “snooker.” Sobble is suggested as either rowing or sailing, as it has a tail that calls to mind a sail. All of these are just speculation of course, but stranger things have happened in the Pokemon world.

A full Pokemon game or a Pokemon Let’s Go?

One of the most troubling parts of the trailer, for fans, is the rather-simple look, which calls to mind last year’s Pokemon Let’s Go Evee and Pikachu rather than the proper 8th generation of Pokemon. This forgets, of course, that generations 1-7 were entirely on Nintendo’s portable systems and so didn’t advance very far at all. Nonetheless, the main concern was over gameplay. Is Pokemon Sword and Shield fully-fledged Pokemon games, with the same tactical depth and gameplay experience fans expect from a mainline Pokemon game, or is it watered-down for the Pokemon Go crowd, like Let’s Go?

The head of The Pokemon Company Tzunekazu Ishihara (yes, that’s who introduced the new games in the trailer) shared a few pieces of information about the new Pokemon RPGs to Famitsu magazine last year, when they were first revealed by Nintendo. This interview was then picked up and translated by Siliconera. At the time, he said that the upcoming RPG would be “a completely different game from Pokémon Let’s Go.”

He also made it clear that Pokemon Sword and Shield, as it’s now called, is not a game for beginners to the series. “It is not an entry game,” he said, “but a game that we want longtime fans of the Pokémon series to look forward to.” He calls it “an evolved Pokemon game” and that it’s “a brand-new product packed with gameplay elements and plenty of new Pokemon to encounter.” All of which certainly sounds exciting, and a far cry from the fun but simplified Pokemon catching and training of Pokemon Let’s Go Evee and Pikachu. All we want is a proper, new, Generation 8 Pokemon experience, and according to Ishihara, that’s exactly what Pokemon Sword and Shield is. We’ll find out if he’s telling the truth later on this year.