Pokemon Sword & Shield: new information about gyms and Champions Cup

Trainers who are looking for more information about Pokemon Sword & Shield may want to delve into the game’s website.

The Pokemon Sword & Shield website has dropped some new information with various details for the game, which hits the Nintendo Switch on Nov. 15.

One of the bigger updates I came across related to the battling aspect of the game. The Pokemon Company already released information about the gym leaders and champion Leon.

On the website, it showed images of players wearing a uniform when they challenge gym leaders. Players can choose the combinations of numbers for their uniform.

Before trainers can challenge gym, they must receive endorsements in order to challenge Gyms. Luckily, the player character and their rival Hop get endorsement letters from Leon to challenge gyms in the Galar region. Like most Pokemon games, there are eight gyms for trainers to conquer.

Once players complete their gym battle journey, they will have an opportunity to compete in the Champion Cup. This is a tournament series where the tournament winner will get to challenge the League Champion. The event is broadcast on TV for everyone to see.

This scenario might sound familiar in that the Pokemon anime has a conference tournament arc in every region Ash Ketchum and his pals have traveled. Since the Champion Cup winner gets to challenge the League Champion, I wonder if this is going in place of the Elite Four, which is a challenge trainers would face before their showdown with the League Champion.

Another new element in the game is the aspect of sponsorship. The website notes that some Galar corporations will sponsor the gyms and Champion, which would explain the logos on their uniforms.

The Pokemon team is really pushing the sport and battle aspect of Sword and Shield with these new elements, which may irk fans who prefer capturing Pokemon to partaking in competition.

Some more information relates to version exclusives. Trainers already know that some leaders will be version exclusives – folks will face Bea in Sword and Allister in Shield – but the website confirmed some version-exclusive Pokemon.

Deino and Jangmo-o will be exclusive to Pokemon Sword wile Larvitar and Gloomy will only appear in Pokemon Shield.

This might influence some trainers who were going to pick one game over the other. I planned on buying Pokemon Sword, yet seeing Goomy only in Shield might change my mind since it is one of my favorite Pokemon.

Pokemon Sword & Shield is a little over three months away and trainers still have plenty of time to decide which version they want to buy, or if they want to pass on this version and wait for the next game. My advice is to wait until the game comes out and make a decision after some time – or have someone buy it for you as a gift during the holidays.