Pokémon Sword and Shield Discussion

Okay, I'm genuinely surprised that no-one's started this discussion already. Come on, Wavers! Let's get this steam-powered hype train rolling! WOO-WOO! XD

Yeah! Bring on Pokémon Sword and Shield! Upside-down Great Britain Galar, here we come!

The new starters are awesome. Sobble has the most adorable design of all three basic forms, but Scorbunny's definitely my favourite (even moreso if its leaked stage-2 evo is real), and I look forward to taking my little Peppy* with me throughout my journey.

*Tentative nickname

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Scorbunny is going to be my starter

@Staroceancrazy Woo! #TeamScorbunnyFTW

Bit of a coinkidink that I decided on Pokémon Sword MONTHS ago, and the Sword cover legend happens to be named Zack.

Spoiler:

Hey, don't diss mah boi Tapu Koko, aka Lightning Warrior Chicken!

Woo! It's Sword and Shield release day! I'm a little ticked off that Game Freak basically ripped off Zander Starmute's motif for Zacian's design, but Zeddy-boy is directly based on myself anyway, which means that, by extension, I am now represented as a version mascot in the Pokémon series.

@Towafan7 Very much! It's already exceeded my already-lofty expectations.

By the way, here's something I realised: ZACk BrIAN

I for one am quite relieved that Sword and Shield's capture system requires you to weaken pokemon to capture them instead of the dreadfully easy capture system in Let's Go which required nothing more than knowing how to throw a ball.

@Aqua Cherry Blossom Indeed, likewise!

@Aqua Cherry Blossom @Erza I for one didn't doubt the return of the regular capture mechanics, as Game Freak stated before the Let's Go games were released that the following entry would be a return to the traditional style, with Let's Go intended as a transition between Pokémon GO and the main series games.

I am glad to see that one new feature from LGPE has been carried over as a potential mainstay: wild Pokémon now appear on the overworld (not counting surprise encounters). After nearly two decades of "A wild [BLANK] appeared!" while trying to scramble to the nearest town with a near-fainted party in the red (hey, we've all been there), it is now possible to entirely avoid unnecessary ambushes. Wild battles, much like HMs, are now a relic of Pokémon series history!

Oh, and single-use TMs are back as well. I like that TRs are styled on old-school vinyl records, as they reference the rise in popularity of British pop music in the mid-20th Century while also taking a form that can realistically break after a single use; this contrasts perfectly with TMs, which have unlimited use and are modelled after much more durable disc-based media. So...does this mean that Pokémon learn new moves through composition of sound vibrations...?

Okay, here's my full party plan in Sword prior to my battle with Kabu (Hey, I've been busy, aight? ):

Spoiler:

And here's my party pre-plan for Shield:

Spoiler:

Those are good choices @GeekyGamerZack.

@RWBY_Red Thank you.

By the way, can anyone guess the nickname theme I chose for my party in Pokémon Sword? (PREEEEETTY sure @Towafan7 doesn't even need to guess... )

Okay, here is my current party in Sword, complete with a subset of auxiliary members to round out my possibilities, as well as add a few extra Pokémon of some of my favourite types (including the first ever Pokémon of both my favourite types combined).

Current Pokémon are marked with a , and any gender-neutral ones are marked with a ♾. Galarian Forms and Evolutions are marked with a and , respectively, and any members of the Eevee family are marked with a . Any Pokémon whose type combination changes upon evolution is marked with said types enclosed in { }, whereas any party member whose type combo is already defined has its types enclosed in [ ].

For those who wish to remain unspoiled, the list is concealed within a spoiler tag, and any new non-starter species names are greyed out as best as possible (simply highlight the name to reveal it).

Pokémon Trainer Alarc's Party:

And here's my current party lineup in Pokémon Shield:

Pokémon Trainer Laura's Party:

And last, but by no means least, my secondary party in Pokémon Sword (to which I refer as "Pokémon Sorcery"):

Pokémon Trainer Zeddy's Party:

So those are my parties in each of my main playthroughs in Sword and Shield. Does anyone know the general theme of all three parties' nicknames? How about the specific source of each save file's set of nicknames? I'll leave you to figure it out, but not without a few hints (which are all in the form of quotes)...

"How did you know I could use magic?"
"The pen is mightier than the sword."
"You have to learn how to Planeswalk before you can Planesrun."