The first set of rumors surrounding Pokemon Switch have arrived, the most important of which revolves around the battle system that you will use in the game. Supposedly, the eighth generation of Pokemon games will remove the long-running turn-based system in favor of a real-time action combat system that players will use.
These rumors come via PokeJungle. The source behind the rumors are a Chinese-based group who previously leaked that Team Rainbow Rocket would be in Pokemon Ultra Sun and Moon, so there is some credibility. According to the rumors, Pokemon Switch will feature a “simplified battle system” that is comparable to the Digimon World series.
This real-time combat system would be a major departure for the Pokemon franchise, as every single mainline game in the last 20 plus years have used a relatively unchanged turn-based model where you select from four moves. This change would completely shake everything from strategy to even tournaments.
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That isn’t the only detail that was leaked in this rumor, though. According to the leak, the Chinese localization team has already completed translating the game’s script, meaning that Pokemon Switch is pretty far into development currently. In addition, there will be no new Mega Evolutions to use, but it isn’t certain if the feature will be making a return.
What will be returning, though, are Z-Moves introduced in the most recent generation of games. You will supposedly be able to use these moves with the Joy-Con’s motion controls. Much like the introduction of a new battle system, the plot will be focused on tradition versus innovation.
The region that Pokemon Switch takes place in is rumored to be inspired by Spain or Italy. Previously, the seventh generation was inspired by Hawaii while X and Y were inspired by France, so it is plausible. The rumored release for Pokemon Switch is late 2018 or early 2019.
