In a short Pokémon Direct this morning, Nintendo revealed the next two titles in the 23-year-old franchise. Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield will make their debut on Nintendo Switch in “Late 2019”. More news was promised for a future date, but the new trailer will provide more than enough for fans to mull over for now.

The first thing many will notice is the increased attention to detail over Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee. Sword and Shield were shown to have increased graphical fidelity, improved textures, and a more organic world design. Battle animations appear to have been improved as well, today’s trailer featured more unique animations than last year’s titles.

Sword and Shield take place in the brand-new Galar Region, which director Shigeru Ohmori described as, “expansive”. It’s impossible to get a feel for how large the new area is from such a short trailer, but the overview illustration certainly seems impressive. A variety of environments were shown, with grassy fields, snowy mountains, and a mine featured in the brief gameplay trailer.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a new Pokémon game without new Pokémon! Sword and Shield’s new starter Pokemon were shown during today’s Direct. Grookey, a small green monkey, will be the grass starter this time around. The fire (and likely fire/fighting by the end) starter will be Scorbunny, who has already won over more than a few fans. Rounding out the starter trio is the water-type Sobble, a timid little lizard I want to hug and protect. No other new Pokémon were shown, at least not that I’m aware of.

One final feature of note is the return of wild pokémon battles. Last year’s Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee didn’t have battles with wild pokémon, opting instead for a Pokémon Go-inspired timing minigame to catch pokémon. While today’s Sword/Shield trailer didn’t go into much detail, a wild encounter was shown, and the trainer did send out a pokémon that attacked the wild pokémon. I’m sure a lot of fans, myself included, were relieved to see this system return.

That’s all the major news from today’s Pokémon Direct, but we’ll be sure to keep you updated on any new poké-happenings!

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