Pokemon Sword & Shield GENERAL DISCUSSION Thread [Spoilers]

[Mr.Munchlax]

So we’re finally getting a Dark Type Gym. It’s about time. I hope it has a gothic or haunted house vibe to it.

I still say that Nanu was technically our first Dark type gym leader, but who cares? We’re finally getting a real one this time!!

Also, since gyms can be major or minor every year in the Galar region, maybe the gyms rotate position every year so it’s always a different experience when you’re playing the game, kind of like how the WiFi battle rules change every year

 

[Mewizard]

18 Gyms, Wow! If all of them happen to be accessible, That's going to be interesting. I wonder what the difference between a major and minor gym is - If Major is the stadium, maybe the Minor are more like regular gyms?

 

[WishIhadaManafi5]

18 Gyms, Wow! If all of them happen to be accessible, That's going to be interesting. I wonder what the difference between a major and minor gym is - If Major is the stadium, maybe the Minor are more like regular gyms?

Maybe we can only Dynamax and/or Gigantimax in the major ones.

 

[Zachmac]

the thing is, in old games the modern exp share didn't exist and yet you didn't need to do any grinding at all. From my experience, gens 3 - 5 had the best level curve as in you would stay in-level with the npc trainers if you keep the same party through the game, except Elite 4 was overleveled but that's understandable. XY was ok since you stay in-level if you let the exp share turned off. they screwed up at SM though, the level curve starts good but around late Akala ~ early Ula'ula npcs start to overlevel you if you don't use the exp share, with the situation becoming critical at Poni. imo the modern exp share was a excuse for them to be lazy with npc trainers and level curve last gen, some areas of Alola felt depressing for having so few trainers to battle. I want back those old routes with ~20 trainers to battle, or at least raise the exp ratio. if truly the exp share is mandatory in SwSh I can imagine Galar being a second Alola. But here's hoping it will be a second Kalos.

On the other hand, who says you have to match your opponent's level? I had the exp.share off and didn't grind at all in my first blind play through of Pokemon Sun, and I quite enjoyed the challenge. Having an underleveled team made paying attention to your individual pokemon's strengths and weaknesses all the more important. Before the Elite Four game also pretty much gives Solgaleo or Lunala to lean on as a crutch if you run into something your other pokemon can't handle, but even they can't carry the team entirely by themselves so it's still kind of balanced.

Of course Black/White have demonstrated that a pokemon game can still have challenge without a huge difficulty gap so I still have a little hope. In classic pokemon games you could still manage the difficulty by choosing whether you battled field trainers or not, so hopefully not too many trainer battles are mandatory.

Regardless though, I'm still going to miss that aspect of managing your pokemon's exp from previous titles. It wasn't super deep or anything but it did make the game a little more interesting.

 

[Ultra Beast Lover]

I wonder if the minor league gyms allow for a little extra character development, like most of them won't be these huge personal moments but just little things like Bede showing some respect towards you, Hop showing more resolve to beat you, and Marnie becomes a little more open with you about herself.

 

[LilligantLewis]

I wonder if the minor league gyms allow for a little extra character development, like most of them won't be these huge personal moments but just little things like Bede showing some respect towards you, Hop showing more resolve to beat you, and Marnie becomes a little more open with you about herself.

Why are the minor league gyms associated with the rivals?

 

[Dragalge]

Nanu may not be the first dark type gym leader but he still holds the distinction of being the first non-E4 Dark type specialist.

But yes, let’s see how they do this Dark gym.

 

[Sulfurian]

Just give us a number of pokemon cut instead of using them as a marketing campaign. 18 gyms in one region has potential, and essentially turning natures into a cosmetic choice is questionable (making the grind to actually obtain what you want easier while also actually taking away some of the charm of it)

 

[Dragon Pulse]

I feel like being able to select the nature of your Pokémon should essentially be a choice that is only allowed once. It could be the fairest way in a sense?

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

I feel like being able to select the nature of your Pokémon should essentially be a choice that is only allowed once. It could be the fairest way in a sense?

What are we now, god?

 

[LilligantLewis]

What are we now, god?

DragonPulse's suggestion is actually less than what we now expect to receive in this game, a masuda quote earlier today suggests we will be able to change natures on the fly, you must have missed that quote

 

[Sulfurian]

I feel like being able to select the nature of your Pokémon should essentially be a choice that is only allowed once. It could be the fairest way in a sense?

If they word it like "your pokemon's personality remains the same but the stat distribution is different" that would be an acceptable outcome. So a modest pokemon actually has the stats of an adamant one, for example. "Ah my shiny treeko is a brave nature, thankfully I can swap the stats around."

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

DragonPulse's suggestion is actually less than what we now expect to receive in this game, a masuda quote earlier today suggests we will be able to change natures on the fly, you must have missed that quote

So we ARE gods.

 

[Dragon Pulse]

What are we now, god?

Wow lmao. Simply a suggestion since it'd probably cause more outrage knowing you could possibly change the nature as many times as you'd like.

 

[Mr.Munchlax]

DragonPulse's suggestion is actually less than what we now expect to receive in this game, a masuda quote earlier today suggests we will be able to change natures on the fly, you must have missed that quote

Eh, I’m 50/50 about this changing natures thing.

On one hand I’m really excited about this since my in-game will finally have more of a chance against competitive players. On the other hand, I’ve always been more of a role player and I’ve been following the idea that Pokémon are living creatures that we’re supposed to treat as your friends, so changing their natures whenever we want kind of goes against that philosophy.

I mean, maybe changing their natures could signify the pokémon growing up, but I’m still not sure.

 

[Tsukuyomi56]

It will be interesting to see if Natures can be altered as we can already do so with IVs and Abilities (albeit unable to directly swap to HAs). This will definitely make Max Raid hunts less stressful if the ability to Gigantamax cannot be pass down by breeding.

 

[Kangaflora]

With the power to change natures, I can finally say goodbye to the dreaded Naughty nature, not a fan of that nature to be honest.

 

[WishIhadaManafi5]

It will be interesting to see if Natures can be altered as we can already do so with IVs and Abilities (albeit unable to directly swap to HAs). This will definitely make Max Raid hunts less stressful if the ability to Gigantamax cannot be pass down by breeding.

That would be frustrating for anyone who may not do well in max raids and wants to have a chance to get Gigantimax Pokemon.

 

[Dragon Pulse]

I wonder if past Pokémon from previous games that have been transferred to SWSH (albeit in the National Dex) can have their natures changed?

 

[Mr.Munchlax]

I wonder if past Pokémon from previous games that have been transferred to SWSH (albeit in the National Dex) can have their natures changed?

I’m assuming yes since they’re being recorded to fit the needs of Sword & Shield, kind of like how pokémon transferred from Gens 1-5 can do super training in Gen 6, or how they can evolve into Alola forms once transferred to SM/USUM