Pokemon Sword and Shield Release Date, Trailer, Gameplay, Gen 8 Starters - Everything we Know

Pokemon Sword and Shield look set to bring us to the new Galar region later in 2019, after having been officially revealed for the first time earlier this year. There's a lot to love about both upcoming games, particularly the starting trio of Grookey, Scorbunny, and Sobble. In our guide to the new Gen 8 Pokemon game, we'll be going over the Pokemon Sword and Shield release date, all the trailers and gameplay we've seen so far, and much more.

• Pokemon Sword and Shield Release Date
• Pokemon Sword and Shield Galar Region
• New Pokemon Gen 8 Starters
• Grookey
• Scorbunny
• Sobble
• Pokemon Sword and Shield Trailer Details

Pokemon Sword and Shield Release Date

Back in February 2019, Pokemon Sword and Shield were finally unveiled for the first time, after having been teased back in 2017. As of right now, we don't know the exact Pokemon Sword and Shield release date, only that both games are coming in "late 2019" as Nintendo's big Fall games.

We already knew about the Pokemon game for the Nintendo Switch targeting a release in 2019. Back in 2018, Nintendo announced that the game had slipped from 2018, and would now be releasing in "late 2019."

Pokemon Sword and Shield Galar Region

Also in the Nintendo Direct on February 27, the setting of the new Galar region for Pokemon Sword and Shield was finally revealed. As of right now, we've got very little information to go on for both titles, but the new region does look fairly industrial, as though the landscape is dominated by cities and factories.

As of right now, the confirmed locations within Galar include:

• Cities
• Vast plains
• Snowy mountains

Does Pokemon Sword and Shield Have Random Encounters?

The answer to this question is yes, Pokemon Sword and Shield does appear to have random encounters. In the reveal trailer for both games, we can see a player character walking into long grass, and getting attacked by a random Pokemon that appears out of nowhere.

This is a big deal for Pokemon Sword and Shield, because both Pokemon Let's Go games last year dropped this feature. Both games removed the random encounters entirely, and in our humble opinion, the games were actually better off for it. Instead of randomly running into Pokemon in the open world, you'd see all the Pokemon patrolling the surrounding scenery, and decide which ones you wanted to engage in battle.

New Pokemon Gen 8 Starters

So far, three starter Pokemon have been revealed for both Pokemon Sword, and Pokemon Shield. There's Grookey, the chimp Pokemon, Scorbunny, the fiery rabbit-looking creature, and Sobble, the timid water-type Pokemon.

Grookey

Doesn't this little guy just look adorable. Grookey is going to be the Grass-based starter for both Pokemon Sword and Shield.

Scorbunny

You can briefly see Scorbunny scampering around the environment in the Pokemon Sword and Shield debut trailer, leaving fiery footprints in the grass wherever they go. As you might have guessed, Scorbunny, is the Fire-type starter Pokemon for Pokemon Sword and Shield.

Sobble

Finally, there's Sobble, the timid looking Pokemon that will probably run away at the first sign of danger. In Pokemon Sword and Shield, Sobble will act as the Water-type starter Pokemon.

And just as you might have predicted, shortly after the reveal of the new Gen 8 starters, Twitter was ablaze with the hot takes. It certainly seems like Grookey is the most popular starter Pokemon, and Sobble is unfortunately the one that everyone's making fun of. Poor Sobble.

Pokemon Sword and Shield Trailer

So what information could we glean from the debut trailer of Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield? Just below, we've recapped all the essential information that you need to know from the reveal trailer into concise points.

• Random encounters are back once again.
• Galar is a Britist-based land.
• Character customization features in Sword and Shield.
• There's a dynamic day and night cycle.
• Sword and Shield are directed by Pokemon Sun and Moon lead Shigeru Omori.

These all are the collective rumors and information we have surrounding the Pokemon Switch project right now, but make sure to keep an eye on this guide, as we'll be updating it with all the future information that releases surrounding the game, particularly with E3 2018 on the horizon.