WARNING: Everything in this post is speculation and should not be treated as official information. It is for fan discussion only, please share it as such.
There hasn’t been much new revealed about Pokémon Sword & Shield following its initial announcement, but that hasn’t stopped rampant speculation about the games on social media. A post on Chinese networks has been circulating which includes some very interesting things about what the games allegedly include. Special thanks to Simon and Jynx for helping us translate these to English:
- New ‘Spirit Armor’ system introduced to the game which lets you equip armor or equipment that you have found
- Spirit Armor adds different effects depending on the item and only one can be attached to a Pokémon at a time (but this is in addition to regular held items)
- Some held items may be converted to Spirit Armor or at least gain the ability to serve as it; Never-Melt Ice is given as an example which will add an extra 10% chance of freezing an opponent
- Another example Spirit Armor was given as a fiery necklace that changes an attack’s type to Fire
- Similar to Z-Moves, some Pokémon will have exclusive Spirit Armor that can only be equipped by them, such as Mewtwo and the starting Pokémon
- All three starter lines remain pure Grass, Fire and Water-type but, if equipped with their unique Spirit Armor, become Grass/Fairy, Fire/Fighting and Water/Ghost respectively
- The games have a single wolf-like Legendary Pokémon as their mascot, but the Spirit Armor it wields will determine its type and attacks. In Sword it will be Dragon/Steel and in Shield it will be Ice/Steel.
- Players can connect with others who have the opposite version to unlock the other version
- The “wolf” Legendary cannot go into battle if it does not have any Spirit Armor equipped
- There is definitely a connection to Kalos, with many characters re-appearing, but you cannot travel there
Phew! That’s a lot to take in all at once. With Armored Mewtwo being featured in upcoming merchandise, this has been a persistent rumor surrounding Sword & Shield, but it would be an interesting way for it to appear in the games.
Let us know what you think AND give us the percent-chance you think that this could be real (10% likelihood, 25% etc) down in the comments!
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