As we get closer to Pokémon Sword and Shield’s official release date, leaks for the two games continue to come out. It appears that copies of the games are now being data mined, revealing that there are an extra 35 Pokémon in the games’ code.
Sword and Shield have received heavy criticism for its decision to cut out a majority of the Pokémon. When the exact number for the games’ Pokédex leaked, fans all over were very disappointed with the number. According to the leaks, the Pokédex will only have 400 Pokémon. That’s less than half of all the current Pokémon that exist, which is far fewer than fans were hoping for.
Adding in more fuel to the fire, the leaks also showed that Charmander is the only starter Pokémon from Red and Blue that will be made available in Sword and Shield. Bulbasaur and Squirtle, two beloved Pokémon, were not part of the Sword and Shield’s Pokédex. This decision has caused more outrage from fans. As is, Charmander and its evolution line (which includes the incredibly popular Charizard) have always gotten more attention than the other starters. Yet Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle usually appear in the same games together, as they were the OG starter trios from the very first Pokémon games. This will be the first time that Charmander makes into a mainline Pokémon game without Bulbasaur and Squirtle.
However, all hope may not be lost. Copies of Sword and Shield are now being datamined, meaning hackers are looking into the games’ code. Twitter user Kurt, who goes by @Kaphotics, shared that 35 extra Pokémon have been found in the games’ code. These extra 35 Pokémon are preexisting Pokémon that appeared in past games. According to Kurt, these Pokémon have stats and models in the game.
See the extra 35 Pokémon below:
- Bulbasaur
- Ivysaur
- Venusaur
- Squirtle
- Wartortle
- Blastoise
- Mewtwo
- Mew
- Celebi
- Jirachi
- Cobalion
- Terrakion
- Virizion
- Reshiram
- Zekrom
- Kyurem
- Keldeo
- Rowlet
- Dartrix
- Decidueye
- Litten
- Torracat
- Incineroar
- Popplio
- Brionne
- Primarina
- Cosmog
- Cosmoem
- Solgaleo
- Lunala
- Necrozma
- Marshadow
- Zeraora
- Meltan
- Melmetal
The extra Pokémon are comprised of just the starters from Gens I and VII, as well as Legendaries. While 435 Pokémon stills seems small comparatively with how many total number of Pokémon that exist, fans can at least take solace knowing that Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and several popular Legendary Pokémon are in the games’ code.
The official release date for Pokémon Sword and Shield is Nov. 15.
